By Alan Flusser
Back in the late 1970’s, for a short period of time I was having my shirts custom-made in Paris by the then legendary shirt maker Hilditch and Key. Considered by the cognoscenti as the finest needle east of London’s Jermyn St, they had managed to unearth this 1950’s trove of fine French shirtings the likes of which I had never seen before. Paper fine and woven in all-over almost moire-like patterns in subtle water-color hues, they were both a solid and fancy shirting at the same time. Immediately smitten, I had one made in each of the four unique patterns, all in different shades of blue. Today they make periodic appearances, but then only in summer and only on the most special of occasions.
Fast forward to just prior to the pandemic, I’m looking through a new shirting swatch book and lo and behold, in front of me are a a few patterns seemingly lifted straight from this Gallic fabric treasure chest. We immediately ordered a couple lengths to make up for seasonal samples, and are pleased to say the finished shirt is just as we’d hoped.
How interesting can a fancy solid summer shirting be? A mouthful to describe, it’s one of those wearables that reminds you of this but also a bit like that. In terms of versatility, it’s essentially unmatched. Falling somewhere in sportiness between the classic chambray and a shirt-weight denim (although lighter in weight) it can dress up a grey worsted trouser or dress down a tweed jacket. With enough personality to be worn on its own, sleeves rolled up or down, it’s the kind of shirt that will get more vintage-looking with age. Constructed in a 50s single-ply pure cotton yarn with a special slub effect, it’s available in a rich Mediterranean blue as well as a lighter dusk blue hue and solid white.
I would judge this to be a kind of navy blazer of sport shirts. It’s hard to imagine how the combination of color and texture could be improved upon. As I often opine relative to the odd classic oxford grey trouser, if you owned a sport jacket that didn’t look good with it, you should throw out the jacket. And here it’s made just for you. For those with patterns on file we can have them delivered in a few short weeks, and for new shirt clients we’ll be glad to see you in our reopened showroom or via virtual consultation. Now you can shirt-up with some sartorial comfort food delivered right to your door.
Contact us for more information.
