Me ... being indecisive about where to sit on entering a diner in Murray Hill.

Sassy 70 year old waitress ... 'They're all chairs honey, just park your touche on one'


We're booked to go again in April.

I love the Vox Pop Street Interviews.  The incredibly cute chick in the dark glasses.

I never tire walking around Manhattan. My Brother in law moved to Connecticut in 1999 and for the next 6 years (until he came back to the UK) we used to go 2 or 3 times a year.
Train from Greenwich or when he moved a couple of years later Darien all the way to Grand Central (most days) wandering around the Big Apple. Obviously did all the sights first year or two, but then as I said just enjoying walking or taking the subway around the city. Nowadays it's every other year but staying this time in lovely hotel on Park Avenue. Should've gone back last December for my 60th but COVID put a dent in that.

There's so much to do, I could go back next year and discover something new.

Every time I'm on the plane home from New York there is a list of things I've failed to accomplish. I have relatives there, so it's always a compromise between familial duty and time to myself. My last visit was 2019 and I managed to grab an afternoon to myself.
Brooks, Kamakura, Alden and Press being relatively close to one another meant I could get a lot done.
In Press they immediately clocked my madras shirt and asked if I was a John Simons customer. The only issue was their sale was on and they had little in my size.
Kamakura, now sadly gone, were really helpful and I finally managed to work out my size.
I regret not going to 346 one last time.

DUMBO?  Go to Disneyworld.

October 2012 as Kamakura opened for the first time. Yoshio, who I thought was just great, very genuine and decent, radiating integrity, made a speech saying how great our The Ivy Look book was, especially the essay I'd written on Japanese Ivy. Graham and I then stood up and said Kamakura was better than Brooks, Press and Mercer combined, or something like that, and proceeded to guzzle Kamakura champagne with the typical relish of big-boned Anglo Saxon men... Twas a strange affair, but very memorable. I remember being in a cab hurtling along one of the Avenues downtown as the hurricane began to hit. Graham wore galoshes over his Alden wingtips which I found hilarious.

@TRS, wonderful stuff.
Yoshio was immaculately turned out and was extremely pleasant, after a little spend up, he put a folded up tote bag (in with the shirts) with the Kamakura logo on it, made out of Dicros which was the material their packable raincoat is made out of. Still comes in quite handy when out shopping.

I’m guessing that Kamakura’s issue was one of sizing. They offered a range of different fits that were a bit outside of the norm.
It took me three attempts and a store visit to get it right.
Service in store was first class, the quality is superb and the value is hard to beat.
The Vintage Ivy shirts have been really collectible too.
They also occupied a great location that would of been quite expensive for a store predominant selling shirts

I always thought they closed due to and during the pandemic. I went to the Madison store a lot and found that their MTM was excellent and the knit oxfords were really well done- but that eventually their button down Oxford just didn’t hold up as well. The two MTM shirts I bought are perfect. Not perfect Ivy- they’re way too trim and sharp-edged for that. But they’re fine shirtmaking. Flawless. Far better than my Mercer shirts.

My wife and I are also New Yorkaphiles although we have only been there three times, on short visits. Something exciting always seems to happen to us when we are there. I always feel like I'm in a movie but in truth I feel that most of the time!
Thanks for the link.