For good measure (How To Spend It)
“Made-to-measure tailoring has become one of the most exciting areas of menswear. It essentially denotes alterations made to an existing pattern (often known as a block) to fit the individual. People can be sniffy about it, calling it “poor man’s bespoke” (bespoke refers to a unique pattern which is cut from a client’s measurements). But it has a major advantage: speed on delivery. While a bespoke suit typically takes three months to be made by hand, a made-to-measure suit, which is mostly machine made, can be delivered in as little as four weeks.”

Best Duffels for All Budgets (Gear Patrol)
“Call it the “Goldilocks of Bags” if you like, though sometimes it seems like more of a “Unicorn of Bags”: the perfectly sized and properly priced duffel can be elusive (hell, brands can’t even decide one way to spell it). When the occasion calls for light packing in something that’ll easily fit in the back seat or sling comfortably over your shoulder there are myriad options, but how many of them can be considered worth a buy? What follows are 30 of the best duffel bags to fit every budget. These represent a vast array of materials, styles, colors and purposes, but suffice it to say each of these duffels is just right.”

100 Years of Menswear by Cally Blackman (Put This On)
“Reading through Cally Blackman’s 100 Years of Menswear exposes you to all of them, from 1900 up to the mid-2000s, breaking down their clothes by vocational and avocational inspiration: worker, soldier, artist, reformer, rebel, peacock, media star, and so on. This organizing scheme roots the shifting aesthetics of all menswear in functionality, a flattering assumption — no useless, free-floating design whims for us men, thank you very much, even us men who happen to be designers — but not necessarily an incorrect one. Suitable dress helps all of us do our jobs, and that holds truer still for full-time rebels and peacocks.”

George Cleverley: English Bespoke Shoemaking Stripped Bare (Billionaire)
“Ahead of a Shanghai trunk show, we take a step-by-step look at the process of bespeaking and handcrafting footwear at this superlative shoemaker.”

Alfred Dunhill: Hell Bent For Leather (Billionaire)
The team has a century or more of practice between its members. “Each item is a reflection of the skills built up over years. In fact, add up the number of years of experience in this place and it’s pretty astronomical,” says craftsman Ricky Potts, “and I say that as one of the younger ones.” Its skills are increasingly highly prized. “Young people just don’t want to learn this kind of trade anymore. They all want to work in IT,” opines Gregory. But mistakes are still made. Or rather, the pernickety level of quality control sometimes rains on the parade: a slightest slip with the tool that is used to dye the exposed edges of any piece of leather and the resulting product is rejected; if a zip is a touch askew when stitched in (because of the way the component was made, not because of the stitching) then it means starting all over again.

In Japan, the Rise of ‘Geek Brands’ (The Business of Fashion)
“H Tokyo itself is a tiny 45 square metres store in cool concretes and warm woods dedicated entirely to selling men’s handkerchiefs. It offers over 200 SKUs in high quality cotton, but claims to make only 30 units per style, with new patterns abusnd styles introduced every two weeks. Designs include collaborations with artists and illustrators, and emphasise originality and uniqueness. Prices range from ¥1,200 to an impressive ¥4,000.”

Cracking the Dress Code: What to Wear to Your Next Party (Wall Street Journal)
“Dress codes were invented to give clear sartorial direction, but these days, it can be anyone’s guess. Good for rule breakers, not so much for the rest of us. Men, in particular, can have a tough time. “Men hate having to break from the norm,” says Emma Willis, who started her eponymous bespoke shirt label in 1987 and has spent the past 26 years holding many a client’s hand as they navigate the Dos and Don’ts of parties. “There was even an incident of a man being thrown out of a club because he wore a tie. No wonder everyone is nervous.””

How to Choose Your Underwear (Mr. Porter)
“Underpants. You might think they don’t matter because no one sees them, but you’d be wrong. What happens if you get knocked over by a bus and the medics remove your trousers? What happens if you spill a hot drink all over your legs and have to remove your scalding chinos in the middle of the office? What happens if you get lucky on a night you weren’t expecting any action? And don’t imagine other guys in the gym, gay or straight, aren’t going to notice either. With a little help from the purveyors of very public-worthy undergarments, Derek Rose, here are some considerations worth addressing.”

Charvet: Heart On The Sleeve (Billionaire)
““We also ask many questions so we can advise on the best shapes, collar, colours,” says Colban. A paper pattern is made, followed by a prototype that allows the fit to be precision-tweaked. It takes four to five weeks before the finished garment is ready. The process, she says, is a pleasurable one. Clients often spend hours choosing the perfect fabric and discussing the nuances of weight and hue.”

It Takes Five Tailors (A Suitable Wardrobe)
“With apologies to the biography of the late Adolphe Menjou, I have the less than ordinary habit of using several tailors each year. Each does some things better than the others which is the point of this post. So, for the gentleman who asked, here they are.”

People Behind the Industry – Michael Hill (DressLikeA)
“Although we produce a new tie collection every season within that there is a degree of continuity – we certainly consider it evolution as opposed to revolution and I suppose that is reflected in my own style. I will wear a simple madder neat or navy grenadine tie on a consistent basis, interspersed from time to time with ties that might have my favourite yarn developments for the season or colour combinations which we’ve been working on. I dress seasonally but mix up the fabrics and textures. I love the Winter, not least I confess because of the great cloth one can wear in those months but even then I love to wear a great tweed with a linen shirt for example. I spend the working day in a factory setting so there is a degree of practically to how I dress, a working uniform if you like, smart comfortable.”

Jockeying for Position: How Boxers and Briefs Got Into Men’s Pants (Collectors Weekly)
“Just as underclothes are shielded from public view, the evolution of men’s most intimate apparel is shrouded in secrecy. But the story of men’s underwear is about more than which came first, boxers or briefs. Undergarments as we know them today were first sold to promote cleanliness and improve the comfort of wearing clothing. That they might one day be deemed fashionable was not even an after-thought.”

The Great Gatsby’s Fabulous Betrayal of 1920s Fashion (The Atlantic)
“But they don’t look quite as we expected to see them. The colors are richer, the dresses more bespangled, and the flappers less perky. This Gatsby isn’t the Gatsby of John Held, Jr. cartoons, nor is it Boardwalk Empire. It’s darker, grittier, and much sexier than the priggish Fitzgerald could have imagined. It’s a 21st century Gatsby, set in the 1920s, which, paradoxically, ups its connection to the decadent period it depicts. If you want historically accurate costumes, you’ll be better served by PBS. If you want to understand the social and cultural meaning of clothes in the 1920s, then this movie delivers.”

Denim Lore with Kiya Babzani, Part One | Part Two (Put This On)
“I mean fabric that has been singed, mercerized, calendered, and sanforized. They’ve taken every bit of life out of the fabric, leaving something very smooth and even. With denim treated like this – yes, you’ll normally need infrequent washings to get a very high-contrast fade at the end. But what most people don’t talk about is how if you buy a pair of jeans made from unsanforized denim, you’ll get these kinds of fades even if you washed your jeans every two weeks.

With unsanforized loomstate denim, the fabric is rigid and creases set in far faster. Additionally, due to the micro-hairs on the fabric (which are sometimes visible), the denim is more abrasive, which will allow you to get that very defined, high contrast look naturally, even with frequent washings.”

Should you ever be using a pre-shave oil? (Esquire)
“In the end, the choice of brush versus oil says more about style than substance. The truth is, though, as long as you have a good quality, moisturizing shave cream, a fresh blade, and exfoliate your face in the shower, you could probably skip both. Go ahead and buy some new razor blades with the savings.”

Raw Silk Explained (Die, Workwear!)
“Raw silk is simply silk that has not been chemically processed. You see, every silkworm extrudes two filaments when making its cocoon, and these fibers typically undergo a chemical processing to strip them of their bonding sericin. As a result of having their sericin left on, raw silk lacks the full luster and richness associated with the kinds of processed silk used for neckties. There also tends to be an unevenness in the yarns, as the two strands of filament are left bonded together, rather than being stripped and separated, which would yield an ultra-fine filament yarn that can be densely woven.”

Gieves & Hawkes Bespoke (Permanent Style)
“One of its identifying features is a soft shoulder, using a pre-made pad but cut down by hand to thin out the neck area, giving a subtle kick at the shoulder. Not a pagoda shoulder by any means, but something that suggests breadth in the same way as a Cifonelli roped sleevehead.”

A Debt We Owe (A Suitable Wardrobe)
“Flusser is much more than just a haberdasher; he is an educator as well as a booster for the entire upper-end of the menswear luxury market. In the eighties, through his shops, his writings, and his now legendary wardrobe work on the movie Wall Street, he almost single-handedly created a menswear renaissance of the type that had not been seen since the 1930’s. Going far beyond merely creating an interest in his own brand, he turned men on to similar artisans the world over. If that weren’t enough, he can also take a great deal of credit for a gigantic spillover effect: once he educated men to dress a certain way, they started coordinating the rest of their lives to match. Fountain pens, good watches, fine cigars, food, wine, furniture, houses, etc. I remember the seventies. Trust me, there really was a thing called a pre-Flusser world, and it wasn’t pretty. I remember having to travel to New York just to buy an all-cotton dress shirt. Now it is true that Ralph Lauren played a significant role in this renaissance, but believe it or not, in menswear his was actually a slightly watered-down contribution. A Johnny Walker Red on the rocks, say. Flusser was the Laphroaig 18 year-old, a single-malt scotch straight from the bottle.”

Going Bespoke (Ivory Tower Style)
“Bespoke clothing is like hiring a personal chef. Although your dinner is made just for you, a chef tends to specialize in a certain type of cuisine. He may be talented and versatile. But even though he knows how to use a knife and stove and can look up a recipe on the Internet, it doesn’t make much sense to ask Mario Batali for Kung Pao Chicken. The fact that it’s custom-made for you doesn’t mean that you can or should ask whatever you want of a particular chef.”

John Lobb Bespoke in Paris (High-Toned)
“Highly qualified craftsmen are working in a beautiful atelier located in the middle of Paris with high ceilings, wooden floors and excellent natural light. Each pair requires an average of 50 hours of work by using traditional shoemaking techniques. John Lobb Bespoke service is unique, a subtle balance between the timeless elegance and fantastic comfort.”

HERZ shop visit (Carryology)
“Herz is a small Japanese (Shibuya district of Tokyo) based leather craftsman workshop, which started in 1973.  A company founded on handmaking non-mass produced, made-to-order leather bags and accessories.”