The Tautz lapel
2April 4, 2015 by Ville Raivio
Edward Tautz founded his eponymous tailoring business in the West End London of 1876, later on renamed as E. Tautz&Sons. He learned the trade at Hammond&Co., who specialized in sport and leisure clothing. The Tautz company mostly dressed the sporting and bellicose gentry, but he also searched for new ways to treat and make garments. E. Tautz was the first to use rainproof tweed for tailoring in Britain, and came up with the first pair of knickerbockers, so favoured by The Duke of Windsor on his many journeys across the globe.
As sported by A.J.
Tautz held Royal Warrants to The King of Italy and the Duke of Aosta. E. Tautz dressed Nöel Coward, that very English enunciator and playwright, and A.J. Drexel Biddle, Jr, often named the most stylish American of his time. In his younger and more vulnerable years, Winston Churchill was also a Tautz customer. Others include F. Eugene Dixon, owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, Stanley G. Mortimer, of the Standard Oil fame, and Cary Grant, the English working-class chap who created himself anew in America.
The modern interpretation in E. Tautz’s current lineup
Tautz is best remembered in tailoring lore for its Tautz lapel, a singular way of cutting double-breasted revers. While most double-breasted lapels have sharp points, Tautz decided to round theirs and also extend the points past the collar line. The V-shape gorge was smaller and lower than most cut by other tailors, and usually horizontal or angled toward the shoulder. The end result was most proper, as was expected by the Brits, but also just enough to set a man apart in a mass of the usual notch and peak lapels. While Tautz was the progenitor, this eccentric lapel shape is just the thing for the man in search for a different but understated look. There is no need for loud or screaming buttonholes, colours, or shining cloths when we have mostly forgotten details just waiting for discovery. The Tautz lapel is one of them.
…with short lapels
The Cowardly look
Category British Style, Jackets, Royal Warrant Holders, Suits
The Keikari list of silly menswear words
2April 3, 2015 by Ville Raivio
I’m not really one for lists though we live in the time of lists, and garb sites are no exception. Still, I’ve toyed with this mostly silly idea of the most over-used and silly words on men’s clothes sites, so here goes. When in doubt or loss for words to fill the empty space, the nascent style blogger/blagger/journalist/critic/arbiter/iGent is wise to splat one of the following into any sentence.
The Keikari list of silly menswear words
1. Classic
2. Timeless
3. Aesthetics/Esthetics
4. Quality
5. Bespoke
6. Staple
7. Gentleman
8. Collection
9. Sick
10. Sprezzatura/sprezz
Category Eccentricities
Designer Bijan Pakzad
0April 1, 2015 by Ville Raivio
“An exceptional life…for an extraordinary Man!
A connoisseur of quality, perfection and universal design excellence, Bijan was a genius marketer of perception and image for his men’s couture, haute and multi-billion dollar empire as the peerless purveyor of elegance and affluence, was uniquely forged in 1976 on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, by just three words, ‘by appointment only’, offering him unprecedented access to the greatest wealth in the world. He was a treasure of enormous admiration and Reservations remarkable creative brilliance.
Bijan was wise and voraciously charming, possessing the daring innovation of a true pioneer. He originated the embodiment of ‘luxury’ ahead of the world that had not even begun to understand the precise essence of the tenet. Bijan was a powerful leader knowing that what makes greatness is starting something that lives long after.”
— Bijan for Bijan on the homepage of Bijan
Category Quotations
Daisuke Yamashita’s shoe journey
0March 30, 2015 by Ville Raivio
Daisuke Yamashita has a mission. He has travelled the world to meet as many artisans as possible, and documented his footweary escapades since 2002, well before the Internet exploded with menswear and style sites. DYshoes is in Japanese only, but the photos are universal and Google’s translation site has learned much. It will likely grow into Skynet one of these days. What’s truly troubling, though, is how prices for artisanal goods in Europe have risen in one short decade. Yamashita-san proves this in many interesting texts.
Copyright © 2013 Ville Raivio
