What’s Inside YOUR Wardrobe? We Take a “Viewer Tour”

Take an exclusive look inside the wardrobe of Bob, a loyal Gentleman’s Gazette follower from London. Who knows? Your collection could be featured next in line!

Video Transcript [Lightly Edited for Clarity]:

Raphael: Welcome back to the Gentleman’s Gazette! I’m here at Bob’s house. Bob, we met at the Gentleman’s Gazette dinner in London.

Bob: Right. Great dinner.

Raphael: And when I said, “Hey Bob, do you think we could film your wardrobe?” you were like, “Absolutely!” So thank you for letting us into your house and showing us your wardrobe.

Suits and Jackets

Raphael: So, without further ado here, this is the first suit we’re going to look at.

Bob: Right.

Raphael: It’s almost like a kind of a cavalry twill. When did you get this, and who made it for you?

Bob: I got this probably about 20 years ago and it was made for me by Sartoria Miranda, which is a tailor that friends introduced me to in Milan. And I bought quite a few suits from Mr. Miranda over the years.

Raphael: So you liked the tailoring experience?

Bob: Very much so. Yeah.

Raphael: Beautiful. I mean, yeah, it’s the typical Italian corozo buttons, kissing buttons. You see handmade buttonholes, rounded corner, classic silhouette. Did you choose that, or was it just the style?

Bob: I chose it. Now I wanted a two-button suit, and I don’t like slanted pockets. I wanted a very traditional look, but I’d like the way the tailoring… Italy gives you a sort of a more of a fitted look. And I also like this little feature here, which they refer to as the little boat, which is a little design.

Raphael: A little barchetta.

Bob: Right, the barchetta, exactly.

Raphael: So it’s interesting because you are in London, where there are so many bespoke tailors, but you decided to have your clothes made in Italy.

Bob: Yeah.

Raphael: Why?

Bob: Well, I started out when I first came to London and was in the banking business. I started out using London tailors, and then I had a colleague who was in our Milan office, and he said, “You should try an Italian tailor.” And so I did that once, and then I was hooked.

Raphael: You were hooked.

Bob: I really preferred the Italian style. And so I’ve been—I don’t wear these clothes as much as I’d like to because I retired from the banking business a few years ago. But they wear very well, and they always look extremely well on you. So…

Raphael: Very good. So, this kind of a suit, what kind of—when would you wear this?

Bob: Well, I would wear this to the office and it also is a very hale and hearty suit. And so it wears—it’s very wearable for travel, so if you go away for three or four days in Europe, which is where I did most of my traveling.

Raphael: It looks like a keeper’s tweed, but it’s much softer, and it has this kind of fiber-dyed … you have tones of green, dark brown. And so it’s easy to combine, right?

Bob: Right, exactly.

Raphael: Wonderful.

Bob: It’s very neutral, so you can wear virtually any kind of shirt and tie with it.

Raphael: All right, let’s look at the next suit.

Bob: Okay.

Raphael: Now, what have we got here, Bob?

Bob: So this is one of my proudest possessions. I love wearing this. This is a Solaro suit or—

Raphael: Solaro suit, yeah?

Bob: Yeah. Basically, I love the different colors that you see in what would ordinarily be a beige suit, but it has a fabric on the inside that has a reddish tint.

Raphael: Yeah.

Bob: And I understand the reddish tint was something that the British thought might be useful to warding off the sun’s rays in the early 1900s on the soldiers. So, they developed this particular Solaro fabric for that purpose.

Raphael: Which is funny, right? Because I mean, we know today this doesn’t do anything to UV rays, but the color—having the red warp or the different color with green and red creates this beautiful color, depending on what angle the light shines on. It’s very nice. So, silhouette-wise, I mean, you just have three cuff buttons here?

Bob: Yes.

Raphael: The other one had four and then but still two button flat pockets.

Bob: Right.

Raphael: And you have a center vent in the back. Did you always like the center vent?

Bob: Yeah, that’s what I always preferred.

Raphael: Is that an American thing?

Bob: I don’t know. It’s just what I grew up with, and I just like its style better than the double vent.

Raphael: Nice!

Bob: And the reason for the three buttons was that this was the first tailor-made suit that I had in Italy. And this particular tailor used that particular approach.

Raphael: Oh, this was your first suit?

Bob: Right.

Raphael: And you just liked the Solaro because it was different?

Bob: Well, I—and this same Italian colleague, who actually was English, or is English—suggested it. And, I just, I thought it was, I’ve always liked gabardine, but I thought this was like a step above gabardine. And also it’s unique. You don’t see too many people wearing this particular fabric.

Raphael: It makes me want to get a Solaro suit. So well done, Bob.

Bob: Good.

Raphael: Now, here we have a sports coat.

Bob: Yes.

Raphael: What— how did you wear that one?

Bob: Well, basically, when I first came to London, everybody wore sports coats on the weekends, especially if you went out of the country. I looked around and saw a Valentino ad—a Valentino with a fabric kind of like this. And so I, I showed the picture of this to Mr. Miranda and he basically produced this fabric, which I think is really outstanding. It’s English.

Raphael: It’s a red, blue, beige, brown. I mean, there are different shades of blue.

Bob: But it’s a very muted kind of color. And you can also see those distinct colors that you mentioned. And it’s a very—

Raphael: They blend together, right?

Bob: Right, exactly. It can also be worn with gray slacks, or beige slacks, or just about any other. A good solid tie goes well with it.

Raphael: I like the contrasting dark brown buttons.

Bob: I do, too, yeah. It’s a good combination with it.

Raphael: Excellent!

Bob: Yeah. So this is a jacket, which is more recent and vintage for me. And it was actually done by a tailor in London, Benson & Clegg.

Raphael: And I can tell that they’re not rounded anymore like on your Italian suits. I can really tell that it wasn’t from that same tailor.

Bob: You might want to explain that rounded arrangement because I didn’t know that until you mentioned it, but it makes very good sense.

Raphael: Yeah, it takes about a half-hour to actually round this, but you can see this suit is worn a little bit, and if you round—

Bob: That’s by— that wouldn’t be the case…

Raphael: You don’t wear it because, unlike with a shirt, you can’t just replace it.

Bob: Yeah, right.

Raphael: You can’t just replace the collar.

Bob: Right.

Raphael: So that’s a way to make your jackets last longer. Okay, so this is Benson & Clegg. Oh, yeah, there it is.

Bob: Yeah.

Raphael: “By appointment to the late King George VI.”

Bob: Right.

Raphael: That was quite a while ago. I like the gray mother-of-pearl buttons with it, and it feels like a high-twist kind of fresco style. I can see the different undertones. So, from afar, it looks like a solid blue, but if you get closer, you can see there’s more color variation.

Bob: So the buttons were picked out by the tailor. I didn’t select them, but as soon as he showed them to me, I said, that’s what I want. That’s the mark of a good tailor, I think—to sort of figure out what your taste is and then show you exactly what you want.

Raphael: Exactly—what you want, and then settle on it. So you’d wear this just like a regular navy blazer.

Bob: Yes.

Raphael: With, like, chinos or khakis—

Bob: Well, I normally wear it with wool trousers.

Raphael: Wool trousers.

Bob: Yeah, light wool for summer and something heavier in the wintertime.

Raphael: Nice. Now, this one, Bob, this is a beautiful garment. Wonderful fabric. What’s the story behind that one?

Bob: Well, this is a very heavy twill, or excuse me, tweed. It’s one of my favorite garments, and I’ve worn it a great deal. I’ve had the lining redone a few times. And this was also done in Italy. I bought the fabric from Anderson & Sheppard when I was trying to find the best tweed fabric. After about 500 samples, I found this one, and then the fellow said, “Okay, well, when would you like me to start making the jacket?” And I said, “Well, I’m afraid I plan to have this made in Italy.”

Raphael: Oh, really?

Bob: So he was not at all pleased to hear that; he was a little astonished that I’d come in there, get the fabric, and wasn’t going to use them to make it, but—

Raphael: They still sold it to you?

Bob: They still sold it to me.

Raphael: Beautiful.

Bob: But it’s really—and the fabric has worn so well.

Raphael: And it’s not a scratchy kind of tweed. It’s very kind of…

Bob: Right.

Raphael: It’s very pleasant to touch. It’s very soft and fluid. And again, color depth—lots of green, yellows, browns, the kind of windowpane overcheck. Yeah, beautiful.

Bob: That’s also a feature of the other jacket, the other sport jacket—the fabric actually is soft, but it is very hard-wearing. And to me, it’s a feature of the better tweeds. Some tweeds sold in the U.S. have a lot of rough edges around them.

Raphael: It’s a looser weave.

Bob: Yeah, that’s what—

Raphael: The density of the weave.

Bob: That causes that to happen, yeah.

Raphael: Yeah. Beautiful. So, how would you combine this?

Bob: Gray slacks or sometimes chinos. And sometimes I wear a tie, and sometimes not.

Raphael: So Bob, this is a nice suit here, two-piece.

Bob: Yeah.

Raphael: What’s the story?

Bob: Well, basically, it’s a suit that I might use for slightly more formal occasions, like going out for dinner or something like that. But it also has a casual aspect to it because it’s a nailhead, and that type of style gives a lot of texture to the fabric. So it doesn’t look like just a gray flannel suit; it has something more to it than that. I also think it wears much better than flannel.

Raphael: It’s a soft worsted, and I like that your style has everything with two tones. Nothing is just a single color—everything has a little bit of visual interest. It makes it so much easier to combine with any type of color, and it’s visually interesting. Right? From afar, it’s solid, and then you come closer, and you’re like, ah, a little subtle detail.

Bob: Right. I guess I maybe selected some of these unconsciously, but I do like that variation in texture and color.

Raphael: So, how old is this piece?

Bob: This was made for me in 2001. So it’s now, what, 21—23 years old.

Raphael: 23 years old.

Bob: Right.

Raphael: I mean, it looks great.

Bob: I know.

Raphael: Do you wear it a lot?

Bob: I don’t wear it so much anymore because I’m not going to an office, but when I did—during that period before retiring in 2010, I wore it quite a bit.

Raphael: Quite a bit.

Bob: At least once a week.

Raphael: Now, this one is a very Milanese-style suit.

Bob: Yeah.

Raphael: It’s that kind of Prince of Wales check without the overplaid.

Bob: Yeah. Well, I like this. I would call this a very classic Prince of Wales. Many years ago, before I came to London, I had a suit like this, but it had a red stitching in it that I never really liked. I always said to myself, I’m going to get one day the truly classic Prince of Wales when some other things had worn out. So, this is the fabric that I picked. It’s really a wonderful suit, especially for the summertime.

Raphael: Beautiful with the gray buttons.

Bob: Yeah.

Raphael: I like it. Nice hand. Very smooth. And even in the shoulder padding, there’s very little in there.

Bob: I know. Exactly, yeah.

Raphael: Soft canvas but still kind of structured. Nice handmade buttonhole—not too long, very narrow.

Bob: Yeah.

Raphael: But all a completely handmade suit, same amount of silhouette.

Bob: That’s another one that, from a distance, can look like a solid color but actually has a lot of variation up close.

Bob: This is your classic pinstripe. I really like pinstripes. I mean, I always was attracted to them. My father had a pinstripe suit, and I thought this was, you know, this is your classic banking suit. I’m not sure bankers wear them too much anymore, but in my era, they did.

Raphael: Because you started out similar to me—you went to law school, right?

Bob: Yes, right.

Raphael: But you also didn’t like law too much, right?

Bob: No, I didn’t like law school that much, and when I started practicing law, I thought it would be much more interesting. Then I actually decided, no, that was not the case. So, it took me a while to find the right direction. I did some nonprofit work for a while, and then I realized that to raise a family in New York City, I would have to do some for-profit work pretty quickly. So, I went into the investment banking business at that point.

Raphael: Nice. I mean, this was the perfect suit for an investment banker.

Bob: Right. This was made in London.

Raphael: Yeah? Who made that?

Bob: No, I’m sorry. Excuse me. This was made in Italy. It’s the Miranda.

Raphael: It looks very much like the Miranda suit. Wonderful! Did you ever order double-breasted?

Bob: No, never did double-breasted.

Raphael: Just wasn’t your style?

Bob: It just didn’t appeal to me. It didn’t feel right. I mean, I tried them on a couple of times, but just didn’t like them that much.

Raphael: Nice. Know what you like and stick with it.

Bob: Yeah, absolutely.

Raphael: Alright.

Bob: So this is a bit unusual. This is a very casual suit. I was in the Loro Piana store in London, and I was flipping through their fabric offerings, and I saw this cotton. I thought this would be an interesting fabric for a suit. And so I had this made in Italy. It’s a summer suit, very casual, but it’s got a lot of character to it. It has a sort of Solaro aspect to it.

Raphael: Yes!

Bob: Only, instead of having a red background, it has a slight orange background.

Raphael: Indeed, and it has this kind of beautiful herringbone—

Bob: Yeah, it’s got this herringbone structure, and you wouldn’t ordinarily think this would work, but it does work pretty well, actually.

Raphael: Yeah, and the orange kind of peeks through. It’s less intense than the red, so you still get that two-tone effect. With the cotton, it’s also very soft. Cotton doesn’t wrinkle too much. The lining is tone-in-tone. Feels like silk, maybe cupro. Oh, interesting, I see your cuffs here.

Raphael: So, was this a standard cuff height?

Bob: A standard cuff for me, yeah.

Raphael: This was just an inch, right?

Bob: Yeah.

Raphael: Interesting. See, I always like big cuffs, but sometimes I go for two or a little less.

Bob: Right.

Raphael: That’s interesting.

Bob: Yeah.

Raphael: Now, one thing I noticed, too, is that your hangers are all very consistent. What’s the story behind that?

Bob: Well, these hangers—I might wear out the suit, but I never wore out the hanger. So basically, I would just hold on to them because I really like the support they give to the jacket. They’re just really wonderfully made.

Raphael: It’s funny because we saw some old Tommy Nutter hangers from, like, the ‘60s or ‘70s, and they were quite thin so these were already a little wider. I think that most premium hangers today are even wider than that, with the idea to kind of emulate the shoulder shape. And yeah, here, too, it’s very soft; there’s not much in there.

Bob: The great thing about this combination is that you can wear the trousers separately from the jacket and vice versa.

Raphael: Is that what you want?

Bob: Oftentimes I’ll wear this with some gray trousers in the summertime. And then the same thing—you can wear the trousers almost by themselves. But I like that versatility.

Raphael: Beautiful buttons. Yeah, it’s kind of shiny. It’s almost like mother-of-pearl, but I don’t think it’s quite that. Very nice.

Raphael: So, having gone through your jackets, what I like is that there was a navy blazer, but not even a single navy suit. Typically, when you talk to people, they’re like, “Oh, the first suit you should get is a navy suit.”

Bob: Right.

Raphael: But you were like, “No, I’m not interested.”

Bob: Well, the first suit I did get was a navy suit because I was working at a New York law firm, and I went to Brooks Brothers to get a suit. This old gentleman there said, “Well, you have to have a navy suit if you’re going to be down at 120 Broadway.” So I got a navy suit, and I think I bought one more navy suit in my career, and that was it. I just really never liked navy suits that much.

Raphael: Nice.

Bob: But this old gentleman was right to say, this is what you need to start out with. So, that was good advice.

Raphael: And I remember, you started out with Brooks Brothers. Do you remember what brands you used for your suits after?

Bob: Well, I started out with Brooks Brothers. Brooks Brothers was a very different place than it is today. I mean, they had very, very good clothing there, especially the shirts, which were just outstanding and would last a very long time. But I migrated from Brooks Brothers to Paul Stuart. They had clothes made in Canada that I became very fond of. And then, when I came to London, that’s when I started working with a tailor, and I realized there was a big difference between a tailor-made suit and something you bought off the rack.

Raphael: What was the difference that you noticed?

Bob: Well, basically, the fit was better. The quality of the fabric was better. The workmanship was better. It was just an all-around better feeling. I mean, you just felt a bit more dressed up and also more comfortable with a suit that was built to your dimensions.

Raphael: Interesting.

Bob: And then, as I mentioned before, I graduated from that to the Italian tailors.

Raphael: And that’s where you kind of stayed for the—

Bob: That’s where I stayed. I was very happy with that evolution.

Shirts

Raphael: Wonderful. I also took a look at your shirt drawer and noticed these are all Budd Shirtmaker shirts, all custom-made.

Bob: Yes.

Raphael: I mean, this one is a beautiful fabric. Tell me more about that one.

Bob: Well, this fabric came from a store in Milano called the Red and the Blue, which I don’t know if it’s still there, but it was owned by Fedeli. And Fedeli, at that time, had hundreds of shirt fabrics, and this one was picked out by my wife, Nan. I’ve been wearing this particular shirt for about 20 years. It’s on its second set of collars and cuffs, so it’s had three different collars and cuffs.

Raphael: So, did you buy enough fabric?

Bob: I bought enough fabric so that I would have plenty left over for collars and cuffs because where I buy my shirts in London, Budd, they made the shirt from the fabric. You take it back, and then they’ll change the collars, but you have to provide the fabric.

Raphael: So, did you notice that when you wash your shirt all the time, and the collars are new, you get a slight color discrepancy? Because I don’t see anything here.

Bob: It goes away after a while.

Raphael: Ah, okay, you’re right.

Bob: One of the things I’m fortunate to have is basically a cleaning lady who’s great at taking care of clothes and doing ironing. So none of these clothes have ever been to a dry cleaner.

Raphael: A dry cleaner. Yeah, that’s nice.

Bob: Yeah.

Raphael: That definitely helps to keep them going longer. So when you order these shirts from Budd, do you pick the interlining, or do they just put in…?

Bob: No, they put in. I trust them to use the right things. I found that Budd’s collars last much longer than a lot of their competitors here in London. That’s how I evolved to—basically, I tried several.

Raphael: Do you remember who you tried? What were your evolutions?

Bob: Well, Hilditch & Key was recommended to me by someone, and their collars, at one point, were wearing out very quickly, even though they were hand-ironed. Then, I went to an auction at Sotheby’s. There was an old gentleman who’d died, and all his clothes were being auctioned off. He had these Budd shirts, and I saw that they were very well-used, but the collars were in perfect condition. So that’s how I ended up going to Budd to have shirts done.

Raphael: Did you buy the shirts at the auction?

Bob: No, I didn’t. They weren’t my size or anything. I was just—

Raphael: Interesting. I didn’t know that Sotheby’s auctioned off clothing.

Bob: Well, they did then. They don’t anymore.

Raphael: Yeah, I figured. But cool to think of that, right?

Bob: Yeah.

Raphael: And so then you just—I mean, you have a range of different colors, right? Like stripes, solids, white, but also some pink shirts.

Bob: Yeah, I’m very fond of the pink shirts. There’s a particular pink color that’s used in London that is very vibrant, and I really like it a lot. Then after it’s been washed 50 times, it has a wonderful hue to it that goes well with a lot of different suitings.

Raphael: And so then, how would you wear this?

Bob: How would I wear this? I’d wear it to the office.

Raphael: To the office?

Bob: Yeah.

Raphael: With the gray suit?

Bob: Gray suit, yeah.

Raphael: And then what kind of tie?

Bob: Oh, I was fond of French ties. I had quite a few ties.

Raphael: Like challis or…?

Bob: I tried those, but also Hermès—those were the ties I always liked.

Raphael: The printed ones or the woven ones?

Bob: Both.

Raphael: Both.

Bob: Yeah.

Raphael: Nice. Then here, I saw this one up there.

Bob: Right.

Raphael: The—

Bob: So this is Ralph Lauren Purple Label.

Raphael: Made in England.

Bob: Yes. Made in England.

Raphael: I think today they’re mostly made in Italy, but this is a nice—

Bob: Well, this is a tux shirt. I can’t recall exactly what happened, but I had to go to an event with a dinner jacket. I had the dinner jacket, I thought I had the shirt, and when I put the shirt on, it was a total mess. So I had to go out and buy one very quickly. I went up to the Ralph Lauren store in—

Raphael: Bond Street?

Bob: Yeah, Bond Street. They showed me this, and the price was absolutely astonishingly high. But given the urgency of the situation, I went ahead and paid it. I think it turned out to be a good investment because I’ve had it ever since then. I like the design—it has these broad—

Raphael: The broad pleats.

Bob: Yeah, the broad pleats on it.

Raphael: It’s actually like shirt fabric. It’s nice—not just the fine pleats but quite wide.

Bob: Right.

Raphael: Interesting. So, did you buy Ralph Lauren? I mean, as an American?

Bob: No, I think I bought a couple of trousers from Ralph Lauren. That’s about it. I never have been a big fan of Ralph Lauren.

Raphael: Well, sometimes that’s how it goes, right? You just find your style, and not everything works for everybody.

Bob: Right. My friend, who we met earlier, “Chacha” Martinozzi, who’s Venetian, is a big Ralph Lauren fan. So where I may have fallen short in supporting Ralph Lauren, that balance was taken up by Chacha—virtually every item he owns is from Ralph Lauren.

Raphael: Sometimes, right, you want what you don’t have. In Italy, Ralph Lauren is probably seen differently than in the U.S. Here, it’s more prevalent. You can find it at Macy’s and everywhere, so I can see that.

Bob: Yeah.

Shoe Collection

Raphael: Wonderful. All right, so let’s talk about your shoe collection, which is quite nice. What do we have here, Bob?

Bob: Well, this is the classic Gucci loafer. My father and I had the same shoe size, exactly.

Raphael: Uh-huh.

Bob: When he visited us while we were living in Venice in 1989, his birthday was coming up, so we went to the Gucci shop, and I bought him these dark brown, classic Gucci loafers.

Raphael: Do you remember how much they were back in the day?

Bob: I think they might have been—because that was during the days of lira, so I’m not sure. It may have been 300,000 lira or something like that. I can’t remember.

Raphael: Do you remember how much that was at the time?

Bob: That would have been about hundred fifty dollars ($150), maybe something like that. Anyway, in 1996, my father passed away, and since the shoes fit me, I inherited them. I wore them a great deal. My father always said that these Gucci loafers were the most comfortable shoes he’d ever had.

Raphael: Because they’re quite soft, right? I have a pair, too.

Bob: Right.

Raphael: You have that heel cap, but the front is quite soft.

Bob: Yeah.

Raphael: The leather is quite soft.

Bob: Right. It fits literally like a glove. You have to be careful to make sure Gucci is replacing the soles on this when the soles wear out. I got the shoes and took them back with me to London, and I just wore them everywhere. Then—

Raphael: With all of your suits and all of the pants?

Bob: With suits, yeah, and they go quite well with suits. As things became more flexible in the City of London, it went well with suits without any problem. They were also good traveling shoes, as long as it wasn’t raining or something. Then, one day, I realized they weren’t suitable for suits anymore, so I used them casually. After that, I realized the shoes were now officially a wreck. They had big gaps in the sides, and the heel had collapsed. But I decided, on a whim, to take them to the Gucci store here, up near Harrods, to see if they might repair them.

I walked in with this box, a little bit of trepidation because I thought they might laugh me out of the place. I told them the story before I showed them the shoes, about my father and how I had them. They were already tied to the concept of refurbishing them, and they started telling me how good their refurbishing group was. Then, I showed them the shoes. They kind of blanched a bit, but they said, “Well, I think our head guy in Florence can take care of this.”

Raphael: Great.

Bob: So that’s where they went, and they came back three months later at a reasonable price and in perfect condition.

Raphael: Wonderful!

Bob: Yeah.

Raphael: But it was quite a bit more, I think, than what you originally paid for the shoes, right?

Bob: It was, but it was worth it.

Raphael: Nice.

Bob: Especially since you can’t buy these anymore. I really like the dark brown ones, and they’re not available. It’s a shame they don’t make them.

Raphael: I have a pair of dark brown, too.

Raphael: And the other day we were in Vienna. I even saw another one, but it was a little too tight, so I didn’t get them. But yeah, it’s a cool, classic style. We even have a video titled, “Is It Worth It? Gucci Loafers.”

Bob: Yeah, I think I saw that. I think I remember that video.

Raphael: So, what’s your verdict, Bob?

Bob: It’s definitely worth it.

Raphael: Oh, great!

Bob: But I don’t think they’re that expensive compared to some of the other shoes I have these days, like Edward Green, for example.

Raphael: Well, yeah, let’s look at those here. I mean, that’s an Edward Green here.

Bob: Right, yeah.

Raphael: How did you end up with Edward Green shoes?

Bob: Well, I came to London from New York and was looking for a job. I went back to Paul Stuart because I realized I needed a couple of pairs of shoes. I need some lace-up shoes. And so I went to Paul Stuart and there was a salesman there, and he showed me a pair of Edward Green lace-up shoes—the classic sort of cap-toe type, English shoe. I said, “But these are very expensive.” He gave me the most effective sales pitch, so I said, “Okay, well, I’ll try them.”

So I tried them. They were great. Three or four days later, I was downtown getting my shoes shined. The shoe-shine guy looked at the shoes and said, “Boy, these are really good shoes you’ve got on here.” That was an endorsement that I paid attention to. So when I moved to London, Edward Green became the place for me, and I’ve always bought my shoes there. This particular pair is interesting because a few years ago, they decided to make a loafer—and they also do this with their other shoes as well—rather than having a leather sole, it has a rubber sole.

Raphael: Rubber sole, yeah.

Bob: But it looks exactly like leather. You can’t tell the difference.

Raphael: Yeah. You just get a little more grip.

Bob: They have more grip, and it rains so much here that I’ve seen people take very bad falls on leather-soled shoes because they become quite treacherous.

Raphael: And this is also a chocolate brown; it’s like a penny loafer—

Bob: Right.

Raphael: With a kind of slight hatched grain.

Bob: Yeah.

Raphael: Very nice. Piccadilly model in Utah grain, right? Thanks to Jack.

Bob: Right, thanks, Jack. I couldn’t remember the model, but anyway.

Raphael: Okay. What do we have here?

Bob: This is another Edward Green offering.

Raphael: Chukka boot.

Bob: Yeah, chukka boot. I love the brown suede because you can actually wear it with a suit or with a blazer, and it looks quite spiffy.

Bob: You can wear it out in the countryside, and it withstands quite a bit. You can’t go hiking with it, but it will withstand a lot of wear and tear. I’m on the second sole of this and I’ve got the new style sole. Actually, I think this might be the third sole. I’m probably on about the sixth heel, so they really wear very well.

Raphael: So do you send them to Edward Green for the factory program—

Bob: Yeah, when I have the soles done, I have them done at Edward Green. Because I had a pair of Edward Greens once, and I had them done locally, and they destroyed the shoe.

Raphael: The cobbler?

Bob: Yeah, I simply could not wear them anymore.

Raphael: Yeah. No, I get that.

Bob: They put a different kind of sole on.

Raphael: Now, this is the pair you wore when I met you?

Bob: Right. Well, this is a favorite pair of shoes. I thought I’d seen everything in the shoe department when a friend of mine from Atlanta came to visit me in London. I said, “Peter, why are you here?” He was going to a theater program that Yale sponsored, but he said, “I’m also here to get a pair of shoes.” I asked, “Where are you getting the shoes?” He said, “Edward Green.” I asked, “Really? What kind of shoe is it?” He said, “The butterfly loafer.” I said, “I don’t know what that is.” So he showed me a picture of the butterfly loafer, and I said, “I really need to get this shoe.” So I went there and got it. Peter got the black shoes, and I decided on the all-dark brown ones.

Raphael: Dark brown.

Bob: But they’re very comfortable. It takes a while to break them in, but they’re very comfortable. They have a bit more support than the standard loafer.

Raphael: Yeah, and you like that E184 last. I’ve seen on quite a few of the Edward Greens here that you’re going for. Beautiful. So how do you wear this?

Bob: I wear this casually, with a pair of gray slacks and a sports shirt or a kind of shirt I have on now. They’re very comfortable shoes.

Raphael: Now here you’ve got another brown pair of shoes here.

Bob: Right. This is very dark brown. This is a French shoe made by Aubercy. This was before you could get a rubber sole from Edward Green, and I desperately needed one. So I went to Aubercy in Paris and asked them if they had any cap-toed shoes with rubber soles. They produced this shoe, and I said, “That’s exactly what I’m looking for.”

Raphael: It feels—you know, at first glance, you could think it’s like pigskin, but this is actually, I think this is peccary. It’s very soft.

Bob: Right. And it’s a very comfortable shoe.

Raphael: It has shine and also a rubber sole.

Bob: Yeah.

Raphael: French Aubercy, but you went for a derby, or that’s what they had at the time. Or did you want…?

Bob: No, I did want this. And it wears very well. It’s very comfortable, and it’s definitely a shoe that you can wear in the rain. Works very well from that standpoint.

Raphael: Now, here’s another brown shoe. I mean, unlike you, I don’t have a lot of brown shoes.

Bob: Right. I have one pair of black shoes—well, actually, I have a pair of patent leather black shoes that I wear with a tux, also from Edward Green. But this is also from Aubercy.

Raphael: Aubercy, yeah. Nice, nice last.

Bob: I saw this in the shop window. I go to Aubercy occasionally to buy belts; they make great belts. I saw these in the window and bought them. They’re really great shoes and very comfortable.

Raphael: Single monks, a slightly different color than your other suede.

Bob: Right.

Raphael: Very elegant.

Bob: Yeah.

Raphael: All right, gotta throw in a black shoe here.

Bob: This is a shoe for the City of London. I wear it with a dark suit, blue suit, or dark gray suit. It serves that purpose very well. I really like the design of them.

Raphael: Edward Green?

Bob: Yeah, Edward Green again. Everything about it is just so well-made. It has a formal quality that I like.

Raphael: Not a full brogue, but a semi-brogue, otherwise with medallion and a whole nine yards. This is also a cool style here—tassel loafer.

Bob: Well, I’ve always liked tassel loafers. I had the Brooks Brothers tassel loafer for many years. And also, if you’re familiar with Belgian shoes, they had a great tassel loafer, but you could only wear it about 10 times before it wore out. They looked good, though.

Raphael: That’s the problem with these shoes, right? Like a Belgian loafer, as you wear them, they’re super comfortable, and I think people are hooked on it, but if they don’t have the support built in, it’s not going to be a shoe that you can re-sole three times.

Bob: Right. This is an Edward Green product. I spotted it when I first started going to Edward Green, but there was something about it—

Raphael: When you go inside, you can see the old Edward Green labels if you’ve had this for a while.

Bob: Yeah, I have had this for a while but I didn’t like this feature. I wanted basically a plain sort of, what would you call this, piece?

Raphael: The leather strap. You wanted it just connected to the tassels and you didn’t really like that.

Bob: But I really admired the loafer, and finally, I broke down and bought a pair. Then I bought a pair for my brother for his 60th birthday, and it’s really become one of my favorite pairs of shoes.

Raphael: Nice.

Bob: Sometimes, on airplanes, I’ve had, a couple of times, people have asked me, “Where did you get those shoes? I’d really like to get them.” I tell them and introduce them to Edward Green.

Raphael: So, I mean, Edward Green is a bit expensive. I mean, to the point where there are maybe some bespoke shoemakers in certain parts of the world that cost as much.

Bob: Yeah.

Raphael: Did you ever consider bespoke?

Bob: I did have a pair of bespoke shoes I bought in Paris many years ago.

Raphael: Do you know which maker?

Bob: I can’t remember the name of the maker, and I don’t know if the operation is still around or not. I liked them, but they weren’t quite as sturdy as the Edward Green shoes. Also, what I like about Edward Green shoes is they are spectacularly comfortable. You put them on, and you know you’re inside a quality product.

And because you can re-sole them at a fraction of the cost to buy a new pair of shoes, when you re-sole them, you get a shoe back that’s probably better than new because it’s been broken in and worn and so on. They do a beautiful job of re-soling.

Raphael: So here is kind of a quarter-brogue cap-toe derby again.

Bob: Yeah.

Raphael: So overall, you like more of the open lacing versus the classic Oxford?

Bob: Yes, right.

Raphael: Did you patina it this way, or did it come that way?

Bob: No, I did. It needs a shine right now. But I really like the program you did on the shoe shines with the—what’s this? Saphir?

Raphael: Yeah.

Bob: I bought some of that. I found it on Amazon; I didn’t expect to find it, but I did. It’s worth paying a premium for that polish.

Raphael: And—

Bob: Kiwi is… I don’t know, something’s happened to it. It just doesn’t have the feel when you put it on. This is immediately absorbed into the leather, which isn’t the case with Kiwi.

Raphael: Saphir did a great job; they’re definitely a step above Kiwi. But I think in recent years, there’s been more like Boot Black from Japan, which seems to be a very nice product. When we polished with it, I thought it was maybe even superior to Saphir. Then there’s Paul Brunngard, introduced to us through Anders in Argentina; we did a shoe shining with that. That seems like a good product, so we have to try it a few more times. It’s like once there’s more enthusiasm and people come in, say, “Hey, let’s make the best product possible. It better be great.” Because I love that. Innovation. It’s what people get into.

Raphael: All right. I think last but not least in the shoe department, we’ve got another brown pair of penny loafers, right?

Bob: Yeah, this is the classic Piccadilly loafer. I have several pairs of these. They wear very well, they’re very comfortable, and I really like the design a lot. It’s just a classic design. This is, to me, what really separates Edward Green from other shoes—you look at that design, and it’s designed around a foot. It’s not like it makes your foot look like something that it isn’t. That’s one of the things I appreciate about it.

Overcoats

Raphael: Nice. And I can see you definitely like your browns, and that extends to your overcoats, right?

Bob: Yeah.

Raphael: Let me grab—

Bob: Okay.

Raphael: So, Bob, overcoats here.

Bob: Right.

Raphael: What do we have here?

Bob: Well, this is a camel hair cashmere coat. I always wanted one of these, you know, when I was in college, I had a fraternity brother that had one of these, and they were out of my price range. And so, when I could afford it, basically, I bought one and had the tailoring done in Italy by the same fellow.

Raphael: Same tailor. But here you went for a double-breasted silhouette, right?

Bob: That’s right.

Raphael: So, why is that?

Bob: I do like the double-breasted on the classic double-breasted on the overcoat.

Raphael: On the overcoat.

Bob: Also, it has a very practical function, because in the weather of New York and sometimes the weather in London, it gets cold enough—you really need that extra cloth in there. And I find it’s very… I always have it bundled up with a pretty big scarf and so on.

Raphael: And you can see there’s a little more wear around the collar. So, you’ve loved this coat.

Bob: Yeah, I’ve worn it a lot.

Raphael: You’ve worn it a lot.

Bob: It’s on its second lining. The other lining was completely destroyed after about, I don’t know, 15 years or so. And I was lucky to get another good lining in it.

Raphael: That’s great. That’s the good thing—if you speak to your tailor, they’ll take care of the items because they love them. And they’re like, if this is the item I made, I’ll repair it. It’s the same with shoes. I think on these shoes, I had, like, originally I was like, “Oh, let’s put in just a leather heel.”

Raphael: And then I wore it a few times. It was like, “Wow, boy, this is wearing down quickly.” And I was like, “Hey, Amara, can you add in a rubber heel?” And then she did it. So, that’s a service level that you buy with a high upfront.

Bob: Well, actually, you remind me of the fact that when the first lining gave me problems, I had it done by someone down in Chelsea, and it was just a disaster.

Raphael: This is all hand-sewn; it’s like Italian sewn.

Bob: Right.

Raphael: So if you’re not used to that, it is gonna take you quite a while.

Bob: So I took it down to the Sartoria Miranda, and he basically did it in a proper fashion.

Raphael: Nice.

Bob: Yeah.

Raphael: Now, your other overcoat is virtually the same style, double-breasted, right? Flat pockets, peak lapel, but in this beautiful, almost like, like twill fabric. And it’s like cavalry twill almost, yeah, but also very soft yet heavier?

Bob: Well, this was recommended to me by Miranda, and I told him that I wanted another overcoat that was a bit lighter than this one and also had a slightly more formal quality to it—darker. And so, this is the fabric that he selected for me. And he said this had some water-repellent qualities to it. I can’t really… I’ve worn it in the rain a couple of times, but normally I had an umbrella or something. But anyway, this one is also a favorite of mine. And both of these I still have, and they’re both in great condition. And I don’t wear them as much as I’d like to, just because there are not any occasions for it.

Raphael: Yeah, at the same time, I think, you know, normally at the start, they’re like, “Oh, get a dark overcoat, like a gray or a navy, so you know you can wear it with your tuxedo and elsewhere.” But it seems like you were like, “No, I go with brown.” Why is that?

Bob: Yeah. Well, this goes perfectly fine with a tuxedo because of the dark element of it. You don’t really notice that it’s a brown color. I mean, I know some people have a tailored aversion to brown, that “no brown in town” slogan, but I think that’s getting a bit passé now.

Raphael: Oh, yes, totally. Right. I mean, you can wear this beautiful brown overcoat, and someone can wear this ugly black thing.

Bob: Yeah.

Raphael: Yeah.

Bob: I do not like black overcoats. I mean, you might as well be working as an undertaker or something.

Conclusion

Raphael: Well, Bob, it was a true pleasure. Thank you so very much.

Bob: Oh, thank you. I really enjoyed it.

Raphael: I appreciate you.

Bob: Yeah, absolutely.

Raphael: Thank you.

Bob: Well, I appreciate your knowledge as well because you filled in a lot of gaps for me.

Raphael: Awesome. I’m glad I could do that.

Bob: Yeah, great.

Raphael: Thank you.

Do you have a favorite tailoring choice or a unique story behind a piece in your wardrobe? Share your thoughts and personal experiences in the comments below!