By DAVID COLMAN
Published: May 13, 2009

SINCE last September — you know, when bleakonomics ousted chiconomics — most of us have put ourselves and our Visa bills through a painstaking, pain-making review. From flashy extravagances like Range Rovers and diamonds to low-profile upgrades like business-class air travel and Starbucks coffee confections, every line item on the modern luxury list has come up for withering review.
So you would assume that the relentlessly tweaked wardrobe of the modern urban man would be high on the watch list. The fedoras, the vests, the striped shirts, the ankle-baring suits, the premium jeans — doesn’t it all seem a little … prelapsarian?

Well, no. It seems they are cushioning the fall.

What has landed on the slag heap of style is the old three-button power suit: slickly conservative, oversize and overpriced, worn with a boxy white shirt and a wide silk tie. It was all, as GQ’s creative director, Jim Moore, put it, “too big and too bold in all the wrong places.” Not so long ago, that ensemble blared of Wall Street success. Now, with public sentiment against financial institutions still high, racks of expensive Italian beauties languish in shops across the country.
While double-digit declines have hit much of the retail sector, one of the few pieces of good news is one of the most surprising. In a reversal of every recession in the last 100 years, figures show that men have not cut back on buying clothes as much as women have. They’re not buying power suits — they’re replacing them.

“I have guys coming in here saying, ‘I don’t want to look like a banker anymore,’ ” said Eric Goldstein, an owner of Jean Shop, a premium denim store in the meatpacking district. He is now dispensing advice on how to look like a “creative professional.”
The new look is still professional enough for work, even a business lunch. But it is quirky and cool enough to suggest that you haven’t spent the last decade lounging in the old boys’ room inhaling cigar smoke and default swaps.

Just peruse the 25 candidates in Esquire’s “Best Dressed Real Man” online contest or the current cover of GQ, with Zac Efron in a trim navy suit, blue gingham shirt and black knit tie, and you will get the gist. Culled from all over the department store, this as-yet-unnamed wardrobe takes pieces of sporty country-club clothing, traditional business attire and off-hours favorites like premium jeans and high-top sneakers. “Business casual” is too corporate a designation, too 50-something. You might call it the Friday wardrobe, given how appropriate it is for wearing to work on Friday morning, then out Friday night.

“The banker suit is definitely dead,” said Euan Rellie, an investment banker in New York. The market’s uncertainty, Mr. Rellie said, has voided former rules about dress. “You used to wear a uniform to work because you wanted to give yourself a certain authority, but that doesn’t necessarily convey that now. I was in a meeting the other day with five people, and they were all dressed entirely different. And because there isn’t a dress code, you have to think about what you wear.”

Man Friday certainly has plenty of choices. The look he has gravitated to is not in itself new; it represents a refinement of trends that men have picked up on in the last three or four years. Slim suits. Oxford cotton shirts. Skinny wool ties. Fine-gauge cardigans. Seersucker. Madras.

“Fashion didn’t stop this year, and it didn’t change,” said Tommy Fazio, the men’s fashion director of Bergdorf Goodman. “It’s the preppy chic these guys have been into, and they’re just refining it, with the right madras, the right pair of khakis, the right cotton sport jacket.”

Or, most emblematically, the right gingham shirt. From Brooks Brothers to Thom Browne (where GQ got Mr. Efron’s cover look), good old gingham is a hit. At both of those stores, sporty-yet-elegant styles — low-key stripes and basic checks — have driven up sales of dress shirts over last year. The reason is simple, said Louis Amendola, the chief merchandising officer of Brooks. Such shirts look jaunty but businesslike with or without a tie.

Mr. Amendola echoes press officers at Prada, Gucci, Barneys New York, Bergdorf Goodman and Paul Stuart who confirm that men’s business has fared better than women’s. According to NPD Group, which tracks retail sales, comparison of the six months ending Feb. 29, 2008, and Feb. 28, 2009, reveals that sales of men’s clothes costing more than $100 were up 4.3 percent. It is a surprising figure given the general retail anemia.

“This is different than anything we’ve ever seen before,” said Marshal Cohen, NPD’s chief analyst, who in 32 years in retail has seen many ups and downs. “Traditionally, men’s wear is the first category to head south in a tough patch. This time, guys have looked at the downturn, and said, ‘I have to look the part, find ways to compete.’ ”

And given that both men in general and men over 40 have been disproportionately hit by unemployment in the last eight months, a more youthful outlook offers a better edge on the competition than clinging to old ways of thinking, or dressing.

“That stodgy look is kind of dead,” said Eric Blumencranz, an insurance broker in Manhattan, who was shopping at Bergdorf last weekend. “I used to wear a plain white shirt. Now I’m wearing stripes and checks, and ties that are a little more fun, too.” But, he pointed out, propriety has to come first. “It’s got to be professional, with a little style to it,” he said. “You can’t come in in an old polo shirt and ripped jeans.”

As usual, it boils down to attitude. “There’s still so much uncertainty in the economy that it’s hard to know what outlook to have,” said Jaime Wolf, a media lawyer in Manhattan. “It’s kind of the same with what you wear to work. I feel that the best attitude now is to be cautiously optimistic, and you could say that’s the way I’ve been dressing.”

For Mr. Wolf, qualified confidence means a blue blazer or a V-neck sweater, slim-cut trousers and a low-key dress shirt and tie. “It’s not the full-on go-go optimism of a business suit, but it’s not the apocalyptic schlumpiness of khakis and a polo shirt.”

Oddly, it may seem silly to change your style amid so many pressing concerns, especially when donning a suit and white shirt is far easier than trying to figure out something casual yet elegant yet sporty yet professional. Still, if a change of clothes is all you need, you’re not doing so bad.

How to save your shoes from salt

There’s probably a good chemical reason why vinegar and salt don’t like each other, but I don’t know what it is. I was probably too busy making ink pellets in the back row when that relationship was explained in Chemistry class.

The enmity is very useful, though. For when you’ve been out in the rain a lot (as happens frequently at this time of year) or been sweating rather profusely (as happens in the other half of the year), vinegar is the best way to tackle the salt stains that can result.

As the leather of your shoes absorbs water, salt gathers at the high-water mark – usually about half way up the vamp and an inch high around either side. If this is allowed to dry and not tackled quickly, it can leave a permanent ridge on the leather. Like scum left by a retreating tide.

You have to wait for your shoes to dry though. So wipe off any excess water when you get back home, stuff the shoes with newspaper, and keep them away from any artificial sources of heat. Then put your shoe trees in to stop them losing their shape.

When the shoes are completely dry, make up a mixture of 50:50 water and vinegar. You’ll need a couple of inches in a mug, and some cloth to apply it with. Most vinegars will do – malt vinegar is ideal but I used rice vinegar most recently and it worked fine.

Dip the cloth in the mixture and rub it over the salt stains. The leather will noticeably darken as it absorbs this new liquid, but don’t worry about that. Concentrate instead on the ridge of salt that stands away from the shoe like dirt. You want to keep rubbing the solution onto this ridge, and reapplying, until it dissolves and the leather is smooth.

When you’ve done this successfully on both pairs of shoes, wipe off any excess solution with a clean part of the cloth and leave them to dry. After a while the leather will dry and return to its normal colour. Now give the entire shoe a generous polish. A cream similar in tone to the leather will work particularly well, as it is likely to correct any colour differentiation caused by this process.

The shoes should be as good as new. The treatment can be used on old stains as well, but the salt is far harder to dissolve. You can apply polish or cream to remove the white colouring, but a ridge will remain.

by Simon Crompton

Karen Alberg Grossman

How to build an iconic brand.

Q: How does it feel to be the coolest brand in the market after only seven years?

A: It feels amazing!

Q: How did you do it?

A: The simple answer is that we focused on product and came up with something both creative and saleable. But the truth is that my partners (Neal Kusnetz and more recently Chuck Hellman) and I worked our butts off!

Robert Stock

Q: Everyone works hard in this business. What did you do differently?

A: Early on, I spent a good third of my life in India. With my very talented team, we developed every garment from scratch: from designing the fabrics (80 percent are designed in-house; there are 4 to 8 different fabrics per shirt) to the stitching, embroidery, appliqués, custom buttons, etc. Plus, our Indian partners are amazing: These complicated shirts can be a manufacturing nightmare, but our guys can do anything; they never say no…

Q: Where do you get the inspiration for your designs?

A: I’m inspired by great artists and musicians. Plus, I spend lots of time shopping flea markets and antique stores around the globe. (Editor’s note: On this particular visit, Stock was sitting on the floor with an antique rug from the 1800s and a patterned vest that he discovered at a Paris flea market.)

Q: Your shirts have not just a unique design sensibility, but also a spiritual component. What’s up with all that “Knowledge, Wisdom, Truth?”

A: It sounds strange, but it’s become something of a mantra around here. After spending time in India, you naturally become more spiritual, and I think the garments are somehow infused with this positive energy. But the product is also about whimsy and artistry and handwork and details. And of course it’s evolved beyond shirts into a full collection.

From the January 15, 2009 issue of MR Magazine

If ever there was a time to pay attention to your wardrobe it is now!

The job market ain’t exactly rosy out there, so do not become a victim because of the way you look. Just as you are putting in those extra hours to make sure the boss notices your work ethic, you should also put in the second effort with your appearance so that you do not go unnoticed! Now is when you want to be seen. Like it or not we are all influenced by the visual and how you look does matter.

Many offices managers have condoned casual dress as a way of keeping the troops happy. Now they are looking for performance and the best performers are the ones who pay attention to the details and you will never ever be pink slipped because you looked great. Better still why even take the chance

Sort, separate and purge!

Take an hour out of the weekend and clean out your closet. Sort the dress clothing from the casual clothing. Bahama shirts do not go with wool dress pants, nor do dockers go with a shirt and tie. Golf shirts are for? Jeans are for? Ties go with? Suits that fit, suits that don’t… does not fit get it tailored. If it is soiled, get it cleaned. If it is wrinkled, press it. If you have not worn it in the last year…get rid of it! Go item by item and put things into proper groupings. You will, if nothing else, feel very organized in the morning when you are picking the outfit for the day.

Now if you are the office manager or the boss, be a leader, set the example with appropriate attire. Let everyone know that your office or business is going to have a real opportunity to stand out from the crowd and that performance and presentation go hand in hand. Raise the bar, you have everything to gain.

Guess who your best allies are…the men’s wear retailers. Call your local clothier, tell them you need their help and ask them to give a presentation to your staff. They will be delighted to roll out the carpet and give you the whole course of dressing for success!

The History of Men’s Suits
Toffs World

Tailoring, the cutting and sewing of cloth as we understand it today, developed gradually in Europe between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries. The first specific reference to the word “Tailor” in the Oxford English Dictionary provides a date at around the end of the thirteenth century.

At one point the cloth was the important feature of any garment. Following the Renaissance the primary function of clothing to conceal the body shifted to a position whereby clothing was used to accentuate certain physical features. Following this transition the Tailor grew in importance with masters of the craft appearing at hubs of civilization.

The empires of Italy, then Spain and France were all at one point as a result of their empires the centre of fashionable dress. Italy reached its peak during and after the Renaissance, Spain and France followed early and late 17th century respectively. France during the reign of Louis XIV France was the hub of Tailoring fashion by the time he died in 1715 the balance of fashion power begun to shift across the channel to the UK.

During King Louis XIV’s 72 year reign a paradigm shift in male attire was becoming apparent. Around 1650 men had stopped wearing the doublet, hose, and cloak, fundamentals of a mans wardrobe since early in the sixteenth century. During Louis XIV reign men started to wear coats, vests, and breeches which we can recognise three components of modern male attire.

As noted the balance of fashion power was shifting, following the civil war the English moved away from the decorative court style popularised in France and took up a more practical form. Both the clothing of the gentry and the merchant classes became progressively more sober throughout the eighteenth century. By the start of the 1800’s kings, consorts, and princes were dressing in a restrained manner identical to their subjects, this would evolve into the classic attire associated with the ninteenth century such as stovepipe hats, umbrellas, and frock coats.

At this point in the evolution of clothing English Tailors, particularly those in London, dominated the male fashion scene. The male style was a clever combination the sporting attire preferred by the gentry and the business clothing of the newly rich industrialists. The fit now rather than decoration became the fundamental rule for male clothing. English Tailors experts at their craft and trained to use woolen cloth over time developed the art of “molding” cloth close to the body without duplicating the exact body form of the wearer. The keywords for the gentlemen of the nineteenth century were discretion, simplicity, and the perfection of cut. It was at this point that modern Tailoring as we know it had it arrived.

Innovations such as sewing machines and more comfortable cloths have had their impact but do not detract from the essential consideration that Tailoring is an art form.

By Stephanie Young

High-end clothing and shoes, tailoring, dry cleaning, a stylish haircut, and fine art. This unique combination of the services can only be found on the corner of Richmond and Queens Ave, in downtown London, Ontario at a store called “David E. White”. Oh, and did I mention that most of these services are offered exclusively for men?

London native, David White has owned this self-proclaimed ‘Men’s Emporium’ for over 28 years. This one-of-a-kind store offers the finest in men’s clothing, tailoring, shoe repair, customer service and just to kick it back ‘old-school’, the barbershop not only includes haircuts, but hot towel and straight razor shaves.

The recent and rather interesting addition made to the store was the David E. White art gallery featuring two of London’s own, exceptionally talented artists.

Upon entering the store, it is difficult not to notice the beautiful art dispersed among the clothing.

“The art backdrops the store and adds a lot of colour. David feels that art should be a part of everyone’s life,” (Lynda) White explained.

Who would have guessed the artists to be none other than the White’s wife, Lynda White, and Catherine Simpson, wife of Don Simpson, the manager of the dry cleaner and art gallery. Talk about a family-run business!

As a self-taught artist, White has been painting since she was a child, but only became more serious about it after her daughters grew up and left home.

“Catherine is a more established artist, where as I’m fairly new,” White modestly admits.

It’s not everyday that you can walk into a high-end clothing store, get a haircut, fix your shoes, and then while waiting for your dry cleaning, view some of the finest art in all of London.

The addition of the two-month old art gallery makes David E. White’s men’s emporium the only store like it in all of Canada. The idea of incorporating local art into an up-scale clothing store, barbershop, shoe repair store, tailor and dry cleaner, is unique, and the business has been doing even better than ever.

“Since the opening of the dry cleaners [offered to women as well] and the gallery, we have been getting at least 3 or 4 new customers a week, and then there are always our loyal customers who have been coming here for years,” store manager and ‘Jack of all trades’, Joshua Fairweather notes.

White is very modest when it comes to her own work but when it comes to the family based business, as any loving wife would, she takes the time to give her husband all the praise in the world.

“We are just trying to provide a service, and try to bring people back downtown London.”

Fairweather, who works very closely with the couple, shares some of his art favourites.

“Her florals are some of my favourites. They are just so detailed and colourful,” Fairweather explains of White’s watercolours.

There is one painting which stands out in the gallery. It is simple concept of a girl’s shoes, but White has a particular way of highlighting a cherry tattoo on the foot of the girl that brings a particular innocence and fun to the piece.

“I take a lot of pictures, something that has good composition, and this one was of a girl who was sitting at the bus stop and her tattoo stood out, so I took a picture of it and painted it,” White explains of the painting.

The gallery will hopefully eventually feature other artists (some local, but not all) in addition to White and Simpson, but as the dry cleaner and gallery are so new, it’s more of a “wait and see” situation.

As an artist, White is always changing and evolving. Her love for watercolour has and will always remain, but right now she is finding a new love in abstract art.

“Abstracts come from inside. I find them to be very challenging in that there’s no plan, it just has to come out and then look good!”

The White’s and Simpson’s definitely took the idea of a ‘friends and family’ business and ran with it. As a high-end clothing store, it is unexpected to find that the people who run the business are so friendly and helpful.

There is a certain charm and uniqueness that the local businesses have, in downtown London, which is very hard to find anywhere else. David E. White is the perfect ‘one destination stop’ where business men can visit on their lunch break, drop off their dry cleaning, get a quick haircut and shave, take a stroll around the art gallery, and then grab a shirt on the way out.

Who said that men don’t enjoy being pampered once in a while?

By CHRISTOPHER CLARK, LONDON FREELANCE WRITER

Relationships within businesses are almost as tricky to navigate and support as relationships within marriages. Just ask someone running a family business.

This fall, David E. White combined the two, by adding an art gallery to his fixture downtown clothing store.

One of the two artists featured is Lynda White, a talented water colourist to whom he happens to be married. (The E, by the way, stands for Edward.)

Not only did he merge his own marriage with his business, he helped continue a similar tradition for a friend, Don Simpson, and his wife, Catherine.

Don Simpson

She, too, is a talented artist, specializing in a Forever Young series of paintings that she and Don sold at their own gallery on Richmond Row for 10 years. When their lease expired this year, White approached them with a wild idea he had been kicking around for some time.

For years, White has sold upscale men’s clothing, specializing in personal service for professionals who spend money to project an image of success.

And for years, he had farmed out the tailoring of the clothes. He also had been asked repeatedly by clients about the best place to have their fine threads dry-cleaned.

“I’ve always been a bit of a contrarian,” says White, 56. “I’ve never operated in a mall, for example, because I think that goes against the kind of personal approach we’ve always taken. So I began thinking about adding some more services to our store, a tailor and a dry-cleaner.”

He had experimented with a wider array of services when he moved into his current location almost nine years ago. At that time, he added a barbershop, and he had seen how popular it was for men working downtown who could schedule a haircut during a busy day and possibly pick up a sweater to wear out that night.

He waited until a space adjacent to the store opened up, and this summer he put his plan into action. He hired a tailor and set up a stylish space where customers could get their garments hemmed. To that, he added a dry cleaning service. Working with a few cleaners he trusts, he invites customers to drop off their clothes at the store. They go to the dry cleaners and are back for pickup within a day or two.

“Those things all made sense, but the art gallery,” White says with a chuckle, “that was a bit more of a stretch. But we wanted to make this a place where people wanted to spend time, getting their clothes tailored or cleaned.”

To make the plan work, he approached the Simpsons. Don had managed the couple’s gallery and Catherine’s career for more than three decades.

He was intrigued at the idea of running the gallery portion of White’s business, even if it would be the only gallery he had ever seen with a tailor and dry cleaner on site.

His expertise running such a business was exactly what White needed, and they opened the gallery/tailor/cleaner in mid-September.

It measures about 1,000 square feet and is directly across the foyer from the 2,700 sq. ft. clothing and barber shop.

“We wanted to create something unique, something that fits with our philosophy of doing things differently,” says White.

“I’m pretty sure this is the only such combination of services anywhere in Canada.”

David E. White is all about multi-tasking.

David White shows the art gallery near his tailor shop at his Richmond Street and Queens Avenue store. (MORRIS LAMONT/Sun Media)

The downtown high-end menswear store is also a barbershop, tailor, dry cleaner and and art gallery — yes, an art gallery.
The unusual combination, unusual makes sense to store owner David White.
“There’s the art of tailoring a suit. It’s a natural extension of carrying beautiful art,” he says. “The business is there, the challenge is there.”
The lifelong Londoner has run the store in the city’s downtown for 21 years. It has been at the corner of Richmond Street and Queens Avenue for the last eight.
Growing up in the east end, White said he has always identified with the city’s core.
“This is the heart and soul. This is where people are individuals (and) where everything happens.”
So there’s no other place he’d rather have the store, which originally only sold menswear, he said.
“I don’t think there’s (another) store in Canada that has all these components,” he says.
The city’s core is part of why White says he loves his job.
“I don’t think about it as a job. It’s just my way of life,” he says. “I’m a downtown person, dyed in the wool.”

David White and Josh Fairweather in the men’s clothing portion. (MORRIS LAMONT/Sun Media)

The store is split into two sections, with entrances on Richmond and Queens.
One leads into a room full of high-end jackets, crisp shirts and neatly-folded ties, and then into a two-chair barbershop that does straight-razor shaves.

David White with barber Ken Knisley. (MORRIS LAMONT/Sun Media)

The other door leads to a small, brightly-lit gallery, which opened a month ago and showcases works by Londoners Catherine Simpson and Lynda White, David’s wife.
One of the pieces is on a sliding door that hides the dry cleaning and tailoring areas.
“It’s a little different twist,” David White says.
The store also has a website on which White posts blogs to keep online consumers up to date about upcoming gallery artists and new product lines.

“We can talk to people in the comfort of their surroundings . . . in a language they like to hear,” he says.
The store’s design is a mix of classic and contemporary — an attempt to make it a timeless part of the downtown for the long-term, he says.

“We’re here for the duration. “This is my last resting place.”

Jenni Dunning is a Free Press reporter.

Jenni Dunning
Sun Media