Suit Talk

I just spent an enjoyable hour with Jim who works at Cooper & McKenzie's menswear on Reform Street. After reading 'The Way We Wore - A life in threads' by Robert Elms I was really keen to get Jim's take on gents fashion trends and tailoring, drawing on his experience of menswear spanning some 3 decades. It was great to talk to someone with such knowledge and enthusiasm.

We talked about favourite pieces such as this classic tweed jacket made from Borders Tweed - a really beautiful cloth.


This jacket might be a favorite with some guy maybe 30/40+yrs - so as a contrast Jim selected some suits for the younger market. Some fresh pinstripes with a flash of a bold lining fabric that said 'wall street wide boy' to me (tell tale signs of my age and style preferences I suppose!) but are immensely popular with the 18-25yr market. Check the linings on these:


We spoke about 1960's & 1970's 2 and 3 button single breasted suits and a contemporary penchant for single breasted suits with a double breasted lapel! Crazy times - with the David Beckham's of this world to be seen sporting such bold pieces of tailoring.


As we moved around the store the beautiful tweeds kept drawing me in and I found myself repeatedly pulling out jackets made by the same label - Falabella an Italian company that interestingly Cooper & McKenzie have sole license to sell in the UK. In my opinion really stylish threads. Apparently these wool cashmere coats and their leisure/sports jackets are hugely popular - classic, sharp and a wee bit cheeky in one, I was quite taken!



I think my personal favorite of the day though was this classic tweed (definite possibilities for the Urban County Dandy if worn appropriately! - You can trust me - I've been known to sport an outfit my friends described as Tyrolian Urban! I'll post up a pic of that sometime!)


This is an example of Cooper & McKenzie's sourcing a great tweed and having maybe only 14 jackets made up. This is as close to bespoke as I reckon most might get - a limited edition jacket made of the finest quality Scottish cloth at a modest price. My partner is going to join me in Dundee during my May trip and we've talked about visiting the store as I'm uber curious to know what he thinks of these and the other jackets and suits.

I asked Jim about waistcoats too and was intrigued to hear that they are just getting a feel for the three piece suit again! Top style tips as he showed me some rather lush deep mustard doe skin(pure wool) waistcoats that they've just had made up especially and are doing rather well.

I must thank Jim for being so generous with his time and taking me through all the types of suits Cooper & McKenzie stock and the types of gent they serve. We were definitely of a similar mind as we spoke about everyday 'costumes' and how what we wear plays a key role in our everyday 'performances' at work with colleagues, at home with family & friends - as we go about our public/social interactions.