The Riddle - McIntyre Custom Shirt
Frayed Cuffs & Laundry Mark
Mr Mort is a blast. I've mentioned before that The Trad started as a street fashion blog but I didn't have the guts to ask people for a photograph. Mort is a great street photographer and has fairly catholic taste so you won't see just the hipsters and fashion elite. You'll see a little bit of everything. Like this fellow.
When most folks here in the US of A see a worn cuff or collar - out it goes. And why shouldn't it when it was $30 at the Gap. When you pay $200 and upward for a custom shirt...there's another mind set entirely. As a kid, I loved the NBC mystery series, Banacek. George Peppard starred as an independent insurance investigator who worked for 10% of whatever he recovered for an insurance company. He was erudite, sophisticated, wealthy and hated by the Boston police and insurance companies alike. When he extinguishes a cigar and puts the short remaining half in his suit pocket, a cop asks, "Why do you keep those?" Banacek replies, "Because they're expensive."
Frank at Riddle McIntyre is the lone 'bespoke' shirt maker left in Chicago. The rest are, and will admit when pushed, made to measure. I returned to Riddle McIntyre to have the cuffs replaced. Frank remembered me because I requested a monogrammed laundry mark (my last name) on the tail of each shirt. Frank told me the fabric was lost in a fire and reminded me the shirt was seven years old and it was time to place a new order.
Not so fast, Frank. I continue to wear these but admit they are now hand washed and ironed. That's extended their lives greatly. The original order was for four and I have three left. The fourth didn't make it. Kind of like a puppy - - it met an early end thanks to a Cesari Sangiovese.
During WWII, Churchill had his cuffs replaced with the fabric from his shirt tails while the tails were patched with cheap fabric. I'm thinking of having Frank do the same and using blue and red bandanna cloth for patching the tails. Or, perhaps a Pierre Deux fabric for some contrast. I figure they have another ten years. I just wish somebody would ask me why I wear shirts with frayed cuffs. Which reminds me of an old Polish proverb, 'Read the whole library my son... but the cheese will still smell after four days.'
Posts
