An interview with Jort Kelder
0July 2, 2018 by Ville Raivio
VR: Your age and occupation?
JK: Like a lady, I wouldn’t discuss my age. Let’s say, I witnessed Neil Armstrong landing on the moon… I studied law but I didn’t want a job as a commercial lawyer or corporate honcho. Instead, I loved to write and discuss politics, so I became a journalist for a Dutch business entertainment magazine called QUOTE. After a while, I became the editor-in-chief.
VR: Your educational background?
JK: I have a master’s in law, but I never worked in that field.
VR: Have you any children or spouse (and how do they relate to your clothing enthusiasm)?
JK: I am not married and do not have children. Concerning my style: I never let my girlfriends decide what I wear. They sometimes make fun of me for wearing old-fashioned stuff like suspenders and 3-piece suits. But let’s be honest, people prefer personality over a nondescript style. I don’t follow trends and promise them that my style will all be fashionable again.
VR: …and your parents and siblings’ reactions back in the days when you were younger?
JK: My family couldn’t care less about my style. My father is a tall man who, in his best days, wore 3-piece suits, but my brothers are both corporate guys who dress more typically and without flair.
VR: What other hobbies or passions do you have besides apparel?
JK: I am a journalist and TV presenter. My work is my hobby. Besides that, I love classic cars and try to collect a few. I enjoy sports – skiing and tennis are both lovely ways to waste some time, but the outfits of most tennis players and skiers are horrible. I would like to go back to the days of gentleman sports.
VR: How did you first become interested in clothing, and when did you turn your eyes towards the tailored style? Why classics instead of fast fashion?
JK: I am interested in history and like classic and timeless things that refer to the past. Call it nostalgia, but that’s the way I am. I love women’s fashion but I tend to mistrust men’s fashion. I believe a guy shouldn’t be interested all too obviously in his looks. (Yes, I know, we all are, but still…)
Featuring clothes from the JORT-line
VR: I have heard that you are extremely interested in the history of clothing. How have you gathered your knowledge of the tailored look — from books, in-house training, workshops or somewhere else?
JK: In the nineties, when I was a young and an up-and-coming journalist, I published my first book called ‘Man & Pak’. I wrote that book together with my friend Yvo van Regteren Altena, who lived in Italy and devoted his life to tailoring, perfumes and exquisite food. My knowledge of fabrics is based on an obsessive interest in craftsmanship, a bespoke lifestyle and eccentricism. I learn by reading books, traveling and just watching.
VR: How would you describe your style?
JK: Classic with a twist. In my case, the twist can be suspenders. In my home country that’s my image: the guy with the braces.
VR: How did you become the face of Suitsupply’s Jort-collection?
JK: I knew and was friends with Fokke de Jong, the Founder and CEO of Suitsupply. Once I got to understand the brand and what it was trying to build, it became clear to me that the quality was great and the possibilities are endless. From there, we decided to develop the Jort collection.
VR: Why should my readers try the Jort-line instead of the many other lines on the market?
JK: The JORT line offers the best quality product and value guaranteed. The Jort line is all about detailing and luxury, but it is well-priced luxury. We use mostly super-150s fabric, which is a rich and delicate fabric of great quality. We have button flies and Neapolitan shoulders which are luxurious and found on only the best of suits. That said, we still make the prices attainable so many people can experience this luxury. One of my favorite items is the long cashmere sock, it feels great on and it is a simple luxury that anyone can have.
VR: Who or what inspires you?
JK: I’m inspired by men who invented their own definition of style – and that is like Suitsupply and it’s mantra of “Don’t just fit in, find your own perfect fit”. When creating the Jort Collection, I always read about historical figures who did something that had never been done before. Winston Churchill wore a boiler suit against the dust of the battlefield. During the Crimean War, Lord Cardigan tore apart his pullover and the cardigan was born. Prince Edward started wearing suede shoes in the city, which ushered in the end of the ’never wear brown in town’ London fashion rule. You need some personality to break the rules, so my advice is: just do it, make your own rules and be part of history,
VR: What’s your definition of style?
JK: Less is more.
VR: Where does the inspiration for the Jort-collection designs come from?
JK: With the Suitsupply design team, I choose an interesting historical figure with a strong sense of style. For the collection a few seasons ago, I was inspired by Porfirio Rubirosa and Gunther Sachs. For another collection, I was inspired by daredevils and picked a guy who broke a speed record on land and sea: Sir Malcolm Campbell. The most recent collection was about Men of Leisure, the great men who prefer the good life over an all-day job. Here, we were inspired by Gianni Agnelli or, in his later days, shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.
VR: Finally, what do you think about the style of Dutch men in general?
JK: Since the 1990s, Dutch style has improved thanks to importing the best brands from Italy. Suitsupply started in the new millennium and it adopted the Italian style. Now Suitsupply is the market leader and has improved Dutch style overall. But let’s be honest: in airports I still recognize my fellow countrymen!
Category Interviews, Men of style
An interview with Lauro Guglielmini
0June 29, 2018 by Ville Raivio
LG: Hello, I am Lauro and I am 18 years old. At the moment, I study foreign languages and science at a secondary school in Belgium.
LG: At first, my parents were quite surprised when I told them that I wanted to dress up as in the 1940s. They thought that certain garments such as double-breasted suits should not be worn by a 13-year-old boy. In their opinion, I was too young to wear suits at that time. As the years went by, they became more interested in vintage fashion, the music and architecture from the 1940s.
LG: I became interested in vintage fashion at the age of 13, thanks to the video game L.A. Noire, set in the 1947 Los Angeles. I was immediately fascinated by the clothing and the music and I therefore wanted to dress as the gentlemen in the game. However, I must admit that my outfits at the beginning were not sublime. Throughout the years, I started doing more research on vintage menswear, consulting various sites and blogs and I was eventually more fascinated by the previous decade, the 1930s, than the 1940s. From the age of 17, I favoured the interwar period apparel over the 1940s fashion.
LG: I gathered my knowledge of clothing from the Gentleman’s Gazette’s Ebook Gentlemen of the Golden Age, which is dedicated to the illustrations published in Apparel Arts and Esquireof the early 1930s. After having joined various vintage groups on Facebook, I obtained much information on how to recognise vintage items and how to date them. I browsed the Internet for images of 1930s apparel and tried to find items, both original and reproduction, to recreate the outfits in the photographs.
LG: I would describe my dress as intercontinental. In the beginning, I preferred American menswear over European but when I discovered more about the sartorial past of Europe, I also began dressing up according to European fashion. I normally dress according to the American apparel as it appeared in Apparel Arts and Esquire on the one hand, but on the other hand I also dress according to the German, English and French fashion from the 1930s. In my opinion, the German magazine Das Herrenjournal is a great source of inspiration. The colour combinations proposed in this magazine are simply outstanding.
LG: Not only fashion magazines but also personalities inspire me. As far as I am concerned, William Powell is the most elegant actor of Hollywood’s Golden Age. I find his style truly exquisite and his acting skills were on point. Other gentlemen to whom I look up to are Cary Grant, Fred Astaire and Errol Flynn. All of them had a very interesting take on fashion.
LG: To me, style is the deliberate harmony between personality and clothing. One must feel comfortable in what one is wearing. If one does not feel confident in wearing a certain garment, one should not wear it. Others will notice it when one is uncomfortable in wearing it.
LG: I initally started wearing 1940s clothing, however; my interest in the 1930s have grown significantly over the last three years and it has practically extinguished my passion for the 1940s. To me, the 1930s were the summit of elegance for architecture, motoring, travelling and fashion. It was the golden age of the oceanliners, such as the glorious Normandie, and the golden age of automobiles, and, in my humble opinion, the era’s Art Deco was marvellous.
LG: In my opinion, vintage fashion brings more diversity to the street scene. I find that the colour and pattern combinations of the 1930s were superb and that they, therefore, should be brought back into modern fashion. I can only encourage one to discover the world of vintage fashion and to take inspiration from it in order improve one’s style. I believe that the art of combining colours and patterns of the past and the modern well-tailored cut lead to perfection.
Category Interviews, Men of style, Vintage
G. Bruce Boyer’s life as a style writer
0June 26, 2018 by Ville Raivio
Today’s question: what has the act of writing about men’s tailored clothing taught G. Bruce Boyer? In the collection of Boyer’s writings I’ve collected on Keikari, this bit is among the most interesting ones because of its theme and findings.
As far as journalism goes, women’s magazines, Boyer feels, still seem to encourage their readers to “burn your old wardrobe and get these new things so you’ll be thought both in style and youthful.”
Do head over to Parisian Gentleman to see the rest.
https://parisiangentleman.co.uk/2018/03/29/my-life-as-a-style-writer-by-g-bruce-boyer/
Category Arbiter Elegantiae, Links, Reading
Marco Facchinetti from Riccardo Freccia Bestetti
0June 26, 2018 by Ville Raivio
Category Footwear, Tradesmen, Videos
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