Weston Visits Rocco

When Weston Wells, photographer extraordinaire whom I have talked about on this blog before, sent me an email letting me know he had some photos that might interest me, I knew I was about to get my hands on something special.  Weston recently visited Rocco Ciccarelli and his custom tailoring operation out in Long Island City and, naturally, brought his camera along to document the whole thing.  Rocco's reputation precedes him and I'd hate to ruin the beautiful images below with some of my nonsense, so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.  Not to mention, Michael Williams already broke down Rocco's genius perfectly back in 2008.  I'd like to thank Weston and Rocco for making this post possible.  Enjoy.

-L.A.S

First Look: L.B.M. 1911 F/W 2011

When we last saw L.B.M. 1911 Josh Peskowitz was raving about their unconstructed sportcoats and blazers.  For those unaware, L.B.M. 1911 is the more "casual" (in the Italian sense, of course) collection by the Mantova based tailoring house Lubiam.  Founded in 1911 by Luigi Bianchi, Lubiam has been making some of the finest tailored tailored clothing in Italy for 100 years.  F/W 2011, and L.B.M. 1911 in general, is all about deconstructing the blazer as much as possible - it's the definition of dressed down tailoring.  Honestly, these jackets are probably more analogous to the shirts and knits you already have in your wardrobe.  The L.B.M. 1911 F/W 2011 shots below embody the majority of the ideas I've been pushing on this blog for a while now - mainly, casually dressing down sportcoats and blazers for every day wear.  The styling below even brings to mind some of the heritage trends currently dominating the American menswear market.  I guess that traces itself back to L.B.M. 1911's penchant for pushing the envelope considering many Italian tailoring houses have refused to acknowledge this movement.  I know this look isn't for everyone, but it's something I think we can all appreciate, especially considering the sheer workmanship put into these pieces.

-L.A.S

Boglioli S/S 2011

When I've talked about Boglioli on Sart Inc before I've gone a little off the deep end as far as praise is concerned, but when you've tried one of their jackets on it's tough to stay level headed.  For S/S 2011 Boglioli has really taken their fabric treatments up a notch.  The washed fabric and over-dying looks great, feels great and really speaks to the budding idea (at least in one small corner of the blogosphere) of dressed down tailoring.  Just picture that perfectly rumpled double breasted jacket over one of those Brooks Brothers spread collar polos, some creased tissue chinos and tassel loafers sans socks.  Good look, no?  Boglioli aint cheap (read: Barney's and Bergdorf), but I'm of the believe that everyone only needs that one great S/S jacket.  And if you're only gonna have one, you might as well do it right.  Check out some ad campaign and lookbook images below and hit Boglioli's website for all the relaxed, muted goodness.

-L.A.S

"The Master Modern Cobbler"

If you read this month's GQ you might have noticed Will Welch's profile on Mark McNairy.  Well, it's up on the website and is a seriously great read.  With phrases like "the most talked-about cobbler in, what, a century" this is a career changing piece of press for Mark.  The article contains some great insight into Mark's roots, production and his buzzed about debut collection for Woolrich Woolen Mills.  A big congrats goes out to one of my favorite designers and my friend, Mark McNairy.  I think this serves as proof that if you challenge conventions and continue to do what you set out to do in the first place, people will notice.

-L.A.S