Thanks for sharing!  One of the first things Truman Capote purchased when he received his first sizeable advance was a suit from Knize's NY branch and he marveled at how the sleeves had working buttons.

Sator, thank you for taking the time to post the pics from your visit to Vienna, especially the ones of the Knize emporium

'...It turns out the façade of the store was designed by none other than Adolf Loos, the famous Viennese turn of the century architect – pictured here reassuringly wearing his silk faced frock coat with fancy covered buttons; stiff, detachable stand up collar, with pinned dress cravat; lapelless DB waistcoat; and Cashmere striped morning trousers:...'

I was aware that Loos was the architect responsible for the design of the Knize building, however, I've never had the time to travel to Vienna so it's the first time I've seen it.

By the way Loos had a dodgy personal life which we wont go into here..

edit: for grammar

Last edited by formby (2008-07-25 13:34:23)

Last edited by formby (2008-07-26 04:19:32)

I was in Vienna in the late nineteen nineties where I appreciated that this city was resistant to being Absorbed by the "Sex in the City", Mickey-D's culture which seems to be engulfing most of the world.

Did not buy any clothes there though.

My first dentist was Adolf Loos' nephew.
By the way, he almost certainly would not have appreciated the sort of sartorial finickyness displayed here- after all, his credo was 'function above all' (one cannot help but think he'd have loved Ivy!).

Secondly, Knize (correctly pronounced 'Kni-zhe') is but a mere shadow of its pre-war glory: all the stories you hear about the shop- well, they refer to the old Knize. The place is not in the hands of the original owners, and as long as the old employees still worked there one could, I suppose, imagine to own a piece of that legend. But these people have long since died off.

The problem is that the Austrians are almost as good as the English at creating 'instant traditions': a shop can open overnight and look as if it had been there for the past 100 years. The signs are sometimes obvious, sometimes less so, but they're always there. Also, the names of the places where 'one shops' have been passed down for generations, and newcomers often don't bother to crack the 'old blood' market and peddle their wares to easily impressed tourists instead.

What polite and genteel chappies you all were back in the noughties. If perchance you are perusing this reminder of your grand tour, Sator, do you recall which measurements the bespoke shirtmaker took?

I really enjoyed that.  Thanks for sharing.

I've always been a crusty octogenarian at heart, even as a teenager, so that explains it.
Oh, and I was born and raised there.

It's really interesting how some people on here think they can judge a place - for better or worse - after having been there for a hasty 'business' trip or the like. 'If today is Tuesday, then this must be Vienna', eh? But I've come across this attitude before, among a certain type of person.