Discover Top Posts Tagged with #fecastleberry

New York City...there is always speculation about ivy, prep, trad, etc, going out of style for good. To me Ivy League America is a dream that's bound to be re-interpreted by each new generation, and I think F. E. Castleberry is doing it for ours, by remembering that Ivy style was first a youthful intellectual uniform for comfort, and has died every time it's become a shorthand symbol for class

#menswear #men's street style #prep #trad #fecastleberry

Hmmm 🤔 Where shall we go next... ✈️ #Sun #Salt #Sand #LetsFly #Photog #Designer #LaLaLand #FeCastleberry (at John F. Kennedy International Airport)

#sand #fecastleberry #salt #lalaland #designer #photog #letsfly #sun

I "borrowed" these clothes from @fecastleberry. Shhh. Don't tell 🙊 #NYC #Secret #Fashion #danatyne #ClosetRaid #fecastleberry #Photographer #FashionDesigner #PretendingItsNotCold (at New York, New York)

#photographer #closetraid #pretendingitsnotcold #danatyne #nyc #fashion #fecastleberry #fashiondesigner #secret

F.E. Castleberry

#mensfashion #menswear #fecastleberry

The Davids vs The Goliaths of Menswear

Last week DH and I had a brief conversation about F.E. Castleberry’s new bespoke suiting and shirting operation. We both figured that $1,600 for a new suit was a high price coming from such a new/small retailer. If we ever found ourselves in the position to spend that type of money on a bespoke suit, we both agreed that we’d take our hard earned dough to a more established menswear retailer. And that was that, or at least I thought it was.

Before I go any further, I want no one under the impression that I think little of Mr. Castleberry or his F.E.C Diaries operation, far from it. I owe a lot of my primary education in the traditional menswear aesthetic to Mr. Castleberry and his now defunct blog Unabashedly Prep. He is somewhat of a legend to me. If you haven’t taken a look at his new operation, please do. I’m sure that his latest venture is the product of years of study and careful consideration, not to mention a whole lot of passion on his part.

Back to the main story. Today, it seems like small startup menswear shops are popping up left and right enabled in part by the proliferation of e-commerce. The inclination of some, myself included, is to ardently stick to what we know. Surely tried-and-true brands like Brooks Brothers, J.Press, G.H. Bass & Co, etc. are well known because of a consistent dedication to quality that, are they not? Yes, the price tag may be a little more, but you know that these retailers can be counted on to provide quality that you can trust. Or can they?

I believe Jesse Thorn of Put This On said it best:

“In the age of mass produced fashion, a consumer has a choice, you can buy the promises of a multinational corporation or the services of a craftsperson. Only one of those comes with the imprimatur of a celebrated designer, but who knows what else comes with that package.”

What I’m getting at here is that relying on the name of these historical men’s outfitters as a guarantee for quality, durability, etc. may not be as safe a bet as it once was. One only need remember the popular outcry from menswear critics around Brooks Brothers and what they saw as a steady decline in the quality, aesthetic, and direction in their menswear selection. All the while a smaller lesser-known start up menswear operation might produce that perfect collar roll on an OCBD or a sublimely constructed canvassed sport coat for marginally more than what you’d pay at one of these classic brands.

My argument is not that any established menswear brand is not to be trusted. I do not sit here typing away to persuade you that one has no other option than to go and find your local cobbler or tailor to get clothing worth a damn.

What I am trying to suggest is an expansion of our comfort zones - a difficult task for sure, but a worthwhile one. I think if you value quality when discerning what to put on your body and you ascribe to the “buy once, cry once” philosophy, then it behooves you to poke at the assumed infallibility of established retailers. Rather than going to Goliath Brand X or Goliath Brand Y for shoes, sport shirts, suiting, etc., try turning over a few rocks first and going with that small shop that opened a handful of years ago. We shouldn’t forget that Before Brooks Brothers was Brooks Brothers, it was just a couple of siblings with a vision, running a store out of their home in New York.

Best of luck on your future acquisitions.

Best, JKR