I don't have the exact quote, but it is a piece of advice that I hope was made in jest, the author suggesting that "diminutive" men are well-served by wearing shoulder pads as the pads create the illusion of height LOL.

And a faultless avatar and signature from you M'Lord.

Well played, Sir.

Tom Wolfe (Again!) Revisiting the Peppermint Lounge in '66.

"All right, girls, into your stretch nylon denims! You know the ones - the ones that look like they were designed by some leering, knuckle-rubbing old tailor with a case of workbench back who spent five years, like Da Vinci, studying nothing but the ischia, the gemelli and the glutei maximi."

I can almost see that tailor when I read that.

"I'll get lambasted for this, but woolens are much heavier than shirtings. The mere fact of the additional weight will tend to pull downwards on the jacket or trousers and thereby conceal very minor errors in balance. Contrast that with shirtings - especially the very lightweight 140s-200s - in which even a quarter inch of incorrect balance will be visible."

Cary Grant's NYC shirtmaker, and eminent bespoke tailor, on why it's much more difficult to achieve proper balance in a shirt than in a suit.

Last edited by Marc Grayson (2006-10-29 16:36:47)

"Leonard Logsdail, famous custom tailor, has an incredible selection of fabrics, but what stories this man can tell. It’s worth getting a couple of suits from him just for the stories!"

"Jon Green’s “bench made” suits are fantastic!  He's in New York City"

"Sartorial authority" and octagenarian Andy Gilchrist breathlessly recommending how others should spend their money on custom clothes.

Last edited by Marc Grayson (2006-10-31 06:15:15)

The tight structure of undergraduate recognition that once existed at Yale is gone.  Even without the advent of coeds, it could never have survived the tone that goes along with long hair and bluejeans--the uneasiness about being part of an elite, the apparent willingness to tolerate a wide range of behavior and styles, the relucatance to consider a career.  Undergraduates now pride themselves on letting everyone do whatever makes him happy...Yale undergraduates seem to be more confident of being in the right place at the right time than they did when the York Street clothiers could gaze fondly out their windows at battalions of tweed jackets.  -- Lionel Trillin.