Suits and the City

April 27 2012: Spotted on Park Avenue. Richard Farley, Partner, Paul Hastings, LLP. Richard is wearing a suit and shirt by Bespoke Custom Tailor, Beckenstein, a Hermes tie, Charvet pocket square, Worth & Worth hat, Oliver Peoples Gregory Peck collection glasses, Vincent & Edgar shoes and Lange & Sohne watch. When I asked Richard about how he developed his style, he first jested that he is starting to think there is a special school for lawyers where they learn to dress badly. He said up until a few years ago (2009 to be exact) his style was not where it is today either until "sartorial rabbi" Edward Hayes adopted and upgraded his style over the course of a couple of years. Of course now Richard has fully graduated. As for his style tips - you can never go wrong with a suit and tie. If a client is ever unhappy with you and you are dressed worse than he is, then that is not a good situation. Richard gets all of his suits from Bespoke Custom Tailor, Beckenstein, which he says is the last of the great garment cen

April 27 2012: Detail shot of Richard Farley's Beckenstein suit and shirt, Hermes tie and Charvet pocket square

April 27 2012: Close up shot of Richard Farley in front of Paul Hastings, LLP

April 26 2012: Edward Tyler Nahem shows his Kente Cloth scarf (made in Kenya) that he bought in Nigeria

April 26 2012: Detail shot of the lining of of Edward's Roberto da Carrara suit jacket. It is easy to see how much there is to think about when designing this suit - the shade of cloth, thread colors, etc. This suit maker unfortunately isn't making suits anymore so recently Edward has been going to John Pearle in London (when the Fela! was touring there and he was going back and forth a lot), however he is still searching for somebody more local

April 26 2012: Spotted on Park Avenue. Edward Tyler Nahem, Gallerist (Owner at Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art) and Producer. Edward is wearing a Roberto da Carrara suit, Lodger shoes, Robert Martin glasses and a shirt that he had made in Lagos, Nigeria by a tailor at the market there. Though the shop was no more than a small room, Edward says he was like a kid in a candy store with all the rolls of different wonderful cloths from all over Africa. He gave the tailor one of his shirts that he had handmade in Italy to base the cut off of and he picked out his fabrics from the wide selection. Edward is wearing a "Fela!" pin on his suit jacket, the name of the Broadway show he produced (now playing in Boston) - he make sure to wear something every day that says Fela! on it whether the pin or something else that bares its name. Edward also wears the color blue in some way every day, something he has been doing for as long as he can remember. In general, Edward describes his style as more Italian than English, although

April 25 2012: Close up shot of John Bricker

April 25 2012: An obscure detail on John's Maison Martin Margiela pants (their signature hook), and the stirrup clip on John's Ralph Lauren belt

April 25 2012: Detail shot of John Bricker's Maison Martin Margiela jacket lining (even the lining is detail oriented)

April 25 2012: Spotted in the Meatpacking district. John Bricker, Creative Director, Gensler. John is wearing a Maison Martin Margiela suit, Club Monaco shirt, Alden shoes, Piaget watch and Ralph Lauren belt. John describes his style as casual, but tailored. If he's not wearing denim on the top, he often wears denim pants. To make denim pants seem more formal for the work place, he will pair them with a white or small check shirt. Although there is no dress code at Gensler, their motto is "client ready" - because they're a design firm, everyone has their own sense of style and clients expect them to look like designers. I asked John if his sartorial style is similar to his architectural style, but he said that it's not because the latter is dictated by the vision of his clients and based on their brands. To elaborate on his sartorial style John said that he wears a lot of Margiela, which brings sophistication with its beautifully tailored pieces, but with a little quirkiness in its obscure details. John's sty

April 23, 2012. Spotted in the Meatpacking district. Rob Kramer, CEO and co-founder of HipSwap.com, a visual marketplace that connects buyers and sellers locally on mobile and the web. Rob is wearing all J.Crew with Prada shoes (not shown). He describes his style as upscale casual, leaning toward more formal when meeting with executives from big corporations like American Express, and more relaxed when meeting with celebrities, influential tastemakers and fashion editors. Rob tells me that while he has always appreciated style, that ever since founding HipSwap, which is focused on fashion and home goods specifically, he has become fascinated by peoples' real obsession with the industry and view of fashion as a form of wearable art

April 23, 2012. Detail shot of Rob's J.Crew ensemble

April 18 2012. Spotted on the Bowery. Francois Nieuwendam, Personal Stylist and Custom Suit Designer. Francois is wearing a suit of his own design that he made out of shirt fabric because he wanted something light that allows him to wear a traditional pattern, but that he can wear in June or July. Francois is also wearing a pocket square, shirt and bag from Dunhill, vintage tie from Geoffrey Beene, vintage tie clip, vintage glasses from Fabulous Fanny's in the East Village and shoes that he bought in a little resort town in Portugal called Cascais when he was visiting his father who retired there. Francois describes his style as classic, but still creative and he doesn't like to follow fashion trends. He mixes in vintage pieces as he says he cannot find a lot of items from contemporary collections that he likes, for examples things with an older, more historic feel to them. His style is influenced by iconic movies like the 'Thomas Crown Affair' and 'Brideshead Revisited', the latter of which takes place in th

April 18 2012. Detail shot of Francois' custom made suit jacket, Dunhill shirt and pocket square, vintage Geoffrey Beene tie, and vintage tie clip

April 18 2012. Detail shot of Francois' shoes that he bought in a little resort town in Cascais, Portugal

April 16 2012. Spotted in Chelsea. Travis Tillotson, Director at Surgo Group, Development Agency. Travis is wearing a Theory blazer, Prada shirt, Crockett & Jones shoes, pants from a small designer trunk show in SoHO, Paul Smith Socks and Zegna belt. Travis describes his professional style as dressing to his audience. If meeting with an ad agency, he will wear something less formal/more creative vs. something more traditional if he's meeting with venture capitalists. Similarly, he likes to wear different designers for different things - for a non-custom shirt his favorite designer is Prada or Thom Browne because of the fit and fabric. His favorite shoes are Tod's and 'boots' are John Varvatos, both for the fit at the same time as being comfortable and stylish