Agreeable Menswear Post Of The Day

Inspiring work, gentlemen!

Frrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

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Great engine. Unfortunately, that was the only good thing about it...

I was at the Louwman Museum today and they've got one of those Lancia's in and mighty meaty at the front it looks too. Almost feels like the new 2018 Polo is channelling a bit of that vibe. And I'm not just saying that because I happen to own one.....
 
Yes he should always have padded shoulders but the p2p looks tight as evidenced by the A-shape silhouette.
 
Crompton looks the same in any suit he has, more or less shoulder doesn't change any of that. His problem has never been the quality of his tailoring but his total lack of personality and subsequently lack of style. He looks just the gormless twat he is. A man deviod of any redeeming qualities and the body language of a public schoolboy who's had his ass kicked every day for 12 years. An emotionless corpse ready to sell himself for the next sartotial dernier cri. Ever listened to him speak? Deary me! One look at current styleforum tells you why he's such a hit with the dead eyed corprorate slaves that would sell their granny for a new pair of G&G MTOs.
 
Crompton looks the same in any suit he has, more or less shoulder doesn't change any of that. His problem has never been the quality of his tailoring but his total lack of personality and subsequently lack of style. He looks just the gormless twat he is. A man deviod of any redeeming qualities and the body language of a public schoolboy who's had his ass kicked every day for 12 years. An emotionless corpse ready to sell himself for the next sartotial dernier cri. Ever listened to him speak? Deary me! One look at current styleforum tells you why he's such a hit with the dead eyed corprorate slaves that would sell their granny for a new pair of G&G MTOs.

There are a number of notable exceptions among the massive list of tailors from whom Crompton has commissioned items. I suspect that's where the truth is to be found.

And never forget he was getting cheap suits cut by charlatans in Hong Kong not so long ago. The Oxford mafia, that's all there is to it.
 
Crompton looks the same in any suit he has, more or less shoulder doesn't change any of that. His problem has never been the quality of his tailoring but his total lack of personality and subsequently lack of style. He looks just the gormless twat he is. A man deviod of any redeeming qualities and the body language of a public schoolboy who's had his ass kicked every day for 12 years. An emotionless corpse ready to sell himself for the next sartotial dernier cri. Ever listened to him speak? Deary me! One look at current styleforum tells you why he's such a hit with the dead eyed corprorate slaves that would sell their granny for a new pair of G&G MTOs.

I don't disagree with your overall point in the least, but he has had a lot of tailoring misses too.
 
There are a number of notable exceptions among the massive list of tailors from whom Crompton has commissioned items. I suspect that's where the truth is to be found.

And never forget he was getting cheap suits cut by charlatans in Hong Kong not so long ago. The Oxford mafia, that's all there is to it.

I don't blame the tailors he gets free stuff from, many are rightufully renowned and capable of producing very fine garments. Big names like Caraceni, Huntsman or A&S don't have such a reputation for nothing. Their problem is that they are desperate for business but have little idea how to expand their customer base besides travelling to more cities or lacklustre PR. One look at their pricing will tell you why that is the case. Since the early 2010s many have basically doubled their prices without changing anything about the process. Savile Row charges how much on average? 6k€ for a two-piece suit? Even more during their trunk shows? Ultimately it is a dying trade that will end up serving for a small group of uber-wealthy customers who treat it like a museum experience.

People like Crompton are just riding along on their backs. He will get a freebie, tell everyone how great it is and that they should have something made. I doubt his "reviews" have any effect apart from helping people remember familiar names. Ever bothered to check which of his reviews get the most attention? Exactly, the "cheaper" ones. 99% of his readership isn't capable or willing to pay for SR or the other big names. His claim to fame is simply his cloxe proximity to SR and being in London. Ever wondered why he is so heavy on Italy? Check the VBC homepage, the tailors they recommend and who he has "reviewed" more recently. Jackpot!

I agree with you that one should look beyond the shores of instagram. Central Europe and Italy still have gems to find but they don't travel at all or only in their own country. Crompton once claimed that he has such an intrnational audience that isn't interested in them. Fun fact, he's been declined by all of them. I met the owner of a company he reviewed during a trunk show, Crompton asked for an all expenses paid trip with an absolutele uninspiring end result. It was a lesson learned for him.
 
I don't disagree with your overall point in the least, but he has had a lot of tailoring misses too.

Of course he has, I wouldn't deny that. What I meant was more that the final shape is usually very similar with little variation. It's mostly very slim contemporary tailoring with narrow shoulders, wide hips, high waist and low-rise trousers. He's voiced his dislike for classic items in the past.

You have to see that the tailors he's used in Italy are usually a bit off the tracks and can't afford to have him come over and give him half a dozen fittings like Chittleborough & Morgan. They will do one or two and ship the end result. As he usually only has one or two pieces made I doubt these items are valuable examples. All that in addition to being a third of the price of SR while his mantra is the more expensive, the better.
 
He’s the absolute epitome of parvenu, with the exception that it’s probably not ‘new money’ that he’s tumbled into, but freebies in place of that. The amount of Pavlovian followers dribbling over him in his website replies remains an enigma to me. Perhaps that’s an example of the old cliche in the land of the blind the one eyed man is king. He must have literally scores of suits and yet I struggle to recall ever thinking ‘wow - great fit, cut, workmanship’ ... whatever. It’s just blandness in the extreme.

There are similarities with that irritating knob on SF Alan Bee who loves telling everyone about his 14 inch drop and showing off his bespoke commissions which inevitably look dreadful and have awful sloping shoulders akin to those of Compton’s commissions but because it’s bespoke and cost a lot his fanbois continue to drool over him. There are loads of posters who show their OTR stuff and in terms of fabric, fit, combinations etc look better than him by orders of magnitude at a fraction of the cost.
 
and yet some of you continue to wonder out loud why we have so few members here. maybe if we start ringing a bell at certain times?
I joined up here later than most.
It seems that a lot of SF regulars were here for a while at the beginning but they’re all gone now. What chased them off?
 
I don't blame the tailors he gets free stuff from, many are rightufully renowned and capable of producing very fine garments. Big names like Caraceni, Huntsman or A&S don't have such a reputation for nothing. Their problem is that they are desperate for business but have little idea how to expand their customer base besides travelling to more cities or lacklustre PR. One look at their pricing will tell you why that is the case. Since the early 2010s many have basically doubled their prices without changing anything about the process. Savile Row charges how much on average? 6k€ for a two-piece suit? Even more during their trunk shows? Ultimately it is a dying trade that will end up serving for a small group of uber-wealthy customers who treat it like a museum experience.

The problem the Row has, is that the cost of the rent means that they should really be a luxury department store style business and not a niche men's tailors or outfitters. You're always going to get the uber-wealthy, but can they entice those who will spend the kind of money for a bespoke suit on an upmarket watch, but walk around with Ralph Lauren?
 
The problem I have with Compton isn't his business model, I couldn't give a crap, its his approach to style, his promiscuous use of makers, which is, in my opinion, inimical to the development of personal style which requires a certain stability and control / discipline. He seems to be little more than a clothes horse now.
 
The problem the Row has, is that the cost of the rent means that they should really be a luxury department store style business and not a niche men's tailors or outfitters. You're always going to get the uber-wealthy, but can they entice those who will spend the kind of money for a bespoke suit on an upmarket watch, but walk around with Ralph Lauren?

Some have been bought by rich benefactors who want the cache of owning a slice of British history others have diffusion lines that subsidise the bespoke side of the business. A model similar to the Parisian couture houses.
 
Some have been bought by rich benefactors who want the cache of owning a slice of British history others have diffusion lines that subsidise the bespoke side of the business. A model similar to the Parisian couture houses.

Went into the Gieves & Hawkes in Chester last week too: the RTW is absolute tat. The Chinese ownership isn't doing them very good. Or maybe I remember as better than they were?
 
Went into the Gieves & Hawkes in Chester last week too: the RTW is absolute tat. The Chinese ownership isn't doing them very good. Or maybe I remember as better than they were?

Don't know what they're like now, but I had a G&H pea coat a few years back which was lovely.

Did you walk past Mappin & Webb? No bloody Rolex SS watches last time I looked. Boodles had plenty of PP's in though.
 

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