A good proportion of the time I spend reading things online is devoted to reading about men’s tailoring. This might seem odd, given I’m not exactly a dandy, but I find it fascinating. It’s another world, an escape from reading about technology or current affairs or whatever else.
In case it’s of interest, here are the sites I currently follow. Thankfully they don’t all post frequently. If you know of something not listed here which might be up my street, do let me know.
General blogs
Usually by individuals about the clothes they buy and related topics. Permanent Style and The Sartorial Journal are probably my current favourites. Put This On can be good, but the signal:noise ratio can be off.
- Die, Workwear!
- By Derek Guy in New York. Lots of ideas, news, details on classic menswear, I think based in New York.
- From Squalor to Baller
- By Ian Anderson in San Francisco. On his own purchases and outfits, along with general thoughts on suits, shoes, stores, etc.
- Grey Fox
- By David Evans, UK-based, and aimed at the over-40s. Lots of quite detailed ideas, reviews of clothes, etc. Sometimes a bit more ready-to-wear “men’s fashion” than the others here.
- Ivory Tower Style
- By David Isle. General posts on classic menswear, accessories and occasionally unrelated things.
- The Journal of Style
- By Torsten Grunwald somewhere in Europe. Examples of outfits, vintage illustrations, posts about clothes and shoes he owns or is having made.
- Men’s Flair
- By various London-based authors. Ideas and reviews of their new clothes. Rarely quite hits the spot for me, for some reason.
- Permanent Style
- By Simon Crompton in London. One of the most popular blogs on these topics. News and reviews, often of Crompton’s own gorgeous and expensive commissions.
- Put This On
- By a few US-based authors. Prolific. Ideas, reviews, news, quotes, roundups of interesting stuff on eBay, etc. Probably the most like a conventional magazine, but online.
- The Sartorial Journal
- By Aleksandar Cvetkovic, in London. Visits to tailors and shoe-makers, reviews of suits he’s had made, more general posts. His taste is quite different to mine, but I really enjoy his enthusiasm.
- Sleevehead
- New York-based. General news, ideas, etc. It’s getting really hard to know how to describe and differentiate all these blogs.
- The Suits of James Bond
- By Matt Spaiser, looking at men’s tailoring through the lens of Bond films. I’m not a huge Bond fan, but it’s still an interesting way to compare and discuss different styles.
- Voxsartoria
- Busy Tumblr of well-dressed famous folks from decades past.
Tailors
Individual tailors
- A Tailor Made It
- By “Terri … a theatrical costume cutter/tailor at North America’s largest repertory theatre.” So not about clothes one would wear in the real world, but lots of photos and thoughts on costumes during creation.
- Alievens
- By “Arno”, with photos of suits etc he’s made for himself (I think; it’s not heavy on description).
- Davide Taub
- Head cutter at Gieves & Hawkes. Lots of photos of newly-made G&H suits, coats, etc.
- Made By Hand
- By Jeffery Diduch at Hardwick Clothes in Tennessee, not that you’d know it. Posts about the industry, equipment, and photos of new creations.
- TaylorTailor
- Based in Tennessee, Taylor is learning how to design and make his entire wardrobe from scratch, and documenting it here.
Tailors’ shops
These tend to be more self-promotional and so usually less interesting.
- Anderson & Sheppard: The Notebook
- A blog by one of Savile Row’s tailors, documenting and occasionally promoting goings-on there.
- Budd Shirtmakers
- By the tiny shop on Piccadilly Arcade. Mostly promotional.
- The Cad & The Dandy: The Wardrobe
- By the relatively affordable tailors based on Savile Row and in the City. Mainly promotional, with some posts explaining details of styles or giving ideas.
- Dashing Tweeds: News
- By the makers of interesting modern fabrics and ready-to-wear clothes. Promoting their new products.
- David Reeves
- New York-based English designer. Some promotional stuff, some nice explanatory posts, although not updated for a few months.
- English Cut
- By ex-Savile Row, now Cumbria-based cutter Tom Mahon. Mostly promotional stuff, although in 2005 he was way ahead of everyone, with a load of great posts (starting here) about bespoke suits. The first things I read on the topic.
- Graham Browne Bespoke
- By the relatively affordable City-based tailors. News, photos of new suits, etc.
- Richard James: The Row
- By the Savile Row tailors’. Mainly promotional stuff, and I’m usually on the verge of unsubscribing.
- The Savile Row Tailor
- By Steven Hitchcock, Savile Row tailor. A few promotional posts, and others about the details of bespoke tailoring.
Forums
- Styleforum: Classic Menswear
- I think SF is the biggest, busiest forum, way too busy to keep up with. I occasionally dip in and have a browse, and subscribe to a handful of long-running topics. Generally US-heavy.
- Ask Andy About Clothes
- This claims to be the “most popular”, and is also largely US-oriented. I never get round to looking at this.
- The London Lounge
- Small, friendly, very knowledgable, London-based. The host, Michael Alden, gathers support for having small runs of fabrics made up.
There we go. It’s a bit like window shopping. Gradually absorbing the names, terms and ideas from an unfamiliar field is a welcome escape or distraction.
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