Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Caruso at Rugby

Were you wondering why Rugby's new spring jackets were practically $600?  Well, now you know - Raffaele Caruso is in the house.  The Italian manufacturer has made jackets for Ralph before, mainly Blue Label aka the mainline stuff, but this is their first venture with Ralph's younger, cheaper Rugby line.  If you're not familiar with what Caruso does you can brush up here courtesy of Jeremy.  Turns out Rugby has ditched the poor man's Thom Browne fit and gone with a new natural shoulder, suppressed waist and fully canvassed sport coat.  According to some intel I got today, these jackets fit insanely well off the rack if you're into a more Italian look.


-L.A.S

18 comments:

  1. Wow - they look sharp. I really like the 'cleaned up' look.

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  2. I'm sure the construction is great, but the lapels are just a tad bit too narrow for me. I may reconsider if/when they go on sale.

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  3. decent for what it is but i prefer to buy one better made coat than 5 cheaper ones with lower quality. never was a fan of rugby but i certainly understand the demographic.

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  4. I love that all of you new age bloggers have subtly started shifting your style to more European and/or Italian from all of this Americana of months past. "But seriously, we at ROTM prefer an Italian / Americana blend". Oh yeah, like all of the McNairy stuff you couldn't stop gushing over is Italian influenced? You guys are so lame. Dressed by the Internet. You guys are novices that use big words like half canvassed and suppressed waist to make yourselves sound like you have any idea regarding construction of clothing.

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  5. Anon @1:34- What is a "new age blogger"? Is Enya on Tumblr now?

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  6. "new age blogger" meaning 23 year old kids

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  7. I don't think there is anything wrong with appreciating American designers such as Mark McNairy and Italian brands such as Caruso.

    Also, I will start using smaller words if you guys will like Sart Inc more.

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  8. Nothing wrong with it in the least. It's the vacillation between the two that amuses me. Best part abt it is it's documented here in permanent ink. It's not like those pics that floated around of you in college before you apparently had always appreciated LLBean and Gitman Bros for their Americana heritage. You can't erase posts. My point is only this: style evolves as you get older, I totally get that. Just don't proclaim to have always dressed this way or that way. Fred hasn't always been uber preppy like the aspirational portrait he paints on his blog. Same for you and others. Don't portend to be this expert by using large apparel vocab. Become the expert first before trying to sound like one. Or just go actually get a job in the industry...unless like most of your contemporaries you aren't what the industry is looking for. What is it you actually do for a living again?

    BTW - why do I continue to read if it drives me this mad? Unintentional comedy scale is infinite knowing what you fools are actually like in person and then reading these posts. More friends you've never met through the Internet because those you've met in person can see right through the bs

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  9. It was actually in college that I was exposed to a lot of Americana stylings that I talk about today. Things like critter shorts, pastel colors, Bean boots and Clarks were on my radar long before I was on the internet talking about clothes.

    I work for a PR Agency that represents a variety of menswear clients and both menswear/womenswear tradeshows.

    Regardless of why anyone reads this blog, I truly appreciate it. Without readers my little corner of the internet would not be even as remotely as special or entertaining. So, many thanks for stopping by.

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  10. Yeah, Fred Castleberry is a joke. That guy is so judgmental about preppy fashion, yet he used to wear baggy-ass, ripped jeans, flip flops, Abercrombie branded t-shirts, backwards hats, etc. Not to mention he has absolutely no right to be proclaiming his love of Ivy styles that he was never exposed to growing up. I mean he's from Texas, right? He'd be better off curating Unabashedly Cowboy.

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  11. To each their own, but if you don't like it, don't read it, am-i-wrong? I'm still visiting daily, thanks.

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  12. Nothing wrong with some criticism, keeps ppl in check. Anon @ 1:34 and 9:14 makes some good pts; it's very easy to front, specially on teh interwebs

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  13. These are great looking jackets, but the thing that really annoys me about them is that the hip pockets are patched but have flaps. Three patch pockets are a great (and very Italian) look, but I guess they thought Americans wouldn't go for it? If anything usually it's the breast pocket that is welted and not patched.

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  14. Amazing, I'm definitely on board with this, considering that it's essentially RL level tailoring with visions of younger swag. Rugby is finally evolving into a brand I might actually wear. It's also so good because it's not about gimmicky branding, it's about simple looks done right. Although, given that I already have a similar version of everything above from RL, it just makes me want to take everything back to the tailor with some of those pictures.

    Also, for the American/Italian comments, considering that much of RL's higher end stuff is made in Italy or in the USA with Italian sourced fabric, I'm not surprised the influence has creeped in over time. And in all fairness, why reject great ideas from other places with great style just because it's not American? That sort of thinking speaks to someone who is more concerned with being apart of a fashion movement (groupthink) rather than actually having actual personal style.

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  15. Very glad Rugby has given up on the thom browne aesthetic - they desperately needed to update their tailored line. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Caruso made RL stuff for the now-defunct "Blue Label" which is different from the mainline blue label stuff made by corneliani. These Blue Label items had Ralph Lauren logos in type, not script and were not labeled 'Polo' anywhere...

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  16. after doing a little research i believe the line i mention above is called the 'Signature Line' and is indeed defunct...I have one of their blazers and it is very nice (full canvass, ticket pocket, soft, roped shoulders, etc). however, not sure if it is caruso or corneliani

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