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Bespoke has been thoroughly abused as a marketing term, as a result, even newer less knowledgeable tailors misuse (I hope) the term and use it interchangeably with “made to measure”. For gentlemen, the art of suit construction is not to be taken lightly, coming from a long tradition of Savile Row artisans, the creation of […]
March 9, 2013
Last month, New York Times T magazine celebrated The Rise of the Well-Dressed Man and in their op-ed piece welcomed us all to the age of sartorial enlightenment. I agree with the premise but disagree with their assertion that Joe Namath was metrosexual avant la lettre. In fact if anything, his “wooly pecs” and “dense happy trail” categorically […]
October 4, 2012
While the less memory gifted among us might find the coterie of individuals engaged in conversation throughout the book confusing, the Book of the Courtier does well as a handbook of sorts for aspiring gentlemen. It goes beyond the Ps and Qs, it’s a way of life and a method of being. It espouses Sprezzatura, […]
May 24, 2012
Humans are useless at assessing probabilities. But against the odds, Dylan Evanshas tracked down the handful of people who rate as geniuses on the intelligence scale he calls risk quotient. Most people probably haven’t heard of risk intelligence. What is it? It is the ability to estimate probabilities accurately, it’s about having the right amount […]
April 14, 2012
So this arrived today- The Essential Black Suit Jacket, The Essential Black Suit Pants and The Coordinator Black Gingham shirt from Indochino. Online tailoring is a harrowing experience; tradition dictates that a man be measured no less than 2 times before his suit is made- once before and once during the pre-fit. If it’s a bespoke order, no […]
February 27, 2012
The rich are spending more on luxury goods these days. According to the research service MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, the luxury category has posted 10 consecutive months of sales increases compared with the year earlier. In July, the luxury segment had an 11.6 percent increase, the biggest monthly gain in more than a year. Luxury good […]
February 19, 2012
A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way […]
January 5, 2012
Not many people think of shantytowns, illegal street vendors, and unlicensed roadside hawkers as major economic players. But according to journalist Robert Neuwirth, that’s exactly what they’ve become. In his new book, Stealth of Nations: The Global Rise of the Informal Economy, Neuwirth points out that small, illegal, off-the-books businesses collectively account for trillions of […]
December 28, 2011
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy has a lot going for it. For one, the plot already carries enough weight to pique the interest of the most plebeian of us all- a spy story that centers on Smiley called out of retirement to hunt down a mole within MI6, lovingly referred to by Le Carre as “The Circus”; […]
December 22, 2011
The Argument Against Income Inequality Imagine four families sharing a large, jointly owned backyard area. The families would like to install a swing set, slide, etc. for their children to share. The set costs $1,200, and they need to figure out how to pay for it. One of the households is fairly well off and […]
April 13, 2013
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