Hello and how are you?
Today I thought I would write about what we have been up to. For the most part it’s just been black tie and weddings with the slow and more considered development of silks for weaving.
I was supposed to be in Japan sourcing silks at the end of this week but I have had to delay my trip because the amount of red tape involved in getting a business visa to Japan at the moment made it impossible for me to travel.
I have had my wings clipped for two years now. My other sourcing trip last December was thwarted by omicron and my Italian counterparts telling me to postpone too.
And, admittedly, by January I had given up. I feel off my bike whilst cycling forcing me to rest up for weeks and just after contracting Covid a couple of weeks prior I was in that mode of thought by mid January of “fuck it, I give up”.
The only thing that snapped me out of it was the wedding market where there is a continued interest in our products and thanks to our existing customers and their word of mouth we continue to garner the reputation of the world’s best bow ties which is a subjective accolade that I will gladly accept but for which I never rest on.
We have been having a great deal of interest in our cummerbund sets of recent. They seem to be making a big come back but for what reason I am not sure. They are super elegant of course and our make is very good if not the best. They are hand cut, hand-pleated and finished with a silver clasp and adjustable band which gives about 2 inches on each side of the measurement which is passed across by the customer. Incidentally, the measurement is not your jeans waist size, but by taking a tape measure around your belly button to ensure that if you have a large stomach it is allowed for. Some men, for example, are a 32 in jeans and a 32 in waist, some are 32 in jeans, but owing to their shape, become a 38 at the waist.
And in the vein of black tie and weddings I have been making my own tailoring mostly about exactly that. Two jackets have been commissioned, one of which came in last week on the same day for collection as I was joining a black tie charity event at the Star Casino in Sydney. I have a relationship these days with the tailors in Sydney where I will occasionally exchange our work for theirs and in doing so create unique items for our window and blog content.
For this jacket it was the first time I have made a jacket with no natural fibres but which in a compromise that is often the case in fabrics, had the most remarkable texture and weave in what would roughly be described as an abstract moire with shimmy in a vibrant cream that bordered on a light gold. I will post it below. The jacket was by Alex Goodman, a Sydney MTM tailor that for the most part works in the wedding space out of the Sutherland Shire in Sydney. What I liked about Alex was that it was probably the most comprehensive MTM experience I have had. The jacket is near enough to perfect in fit but my only complaint might be that he made it tighter on the shoulders that I might have liked. I am as I get older becoming more like Nicholas Foulkes enjoying a more filled out and relaxed tailoring silhouette than the more tightly measured garments that younger and slimmer men wear. However, I believe for this jacket, Alex was right, the narrower shoulder block gave a more movie star finish to the fabric. I paired the jacket with some trousers in a barathea wool in black, my own white shirt with turned back button cuff, our new 8cm batwing bow tie in black velvet (Domenico model), braces by Albert Thurston, silk socks by Bresciani and a pair of Gaziano And Girling patent evening shoes which I could not recommend more highly.
And then my own tailor Guy finished in the same week a jacket which I am super proud of. There was a tailor named Velardi, he closed down many years ago, having been located in Double Bay and having served the well heeled from Frank Packer to Neville Wran. Their clients had mostly passed away and the pool didn't renew itself which is sad but a sign of the times. Velardi himself passed away a few years back but his garage was filled with accessories and fabrics which is wife wished to sell. I was invited to look through them. How sad to see these wonderful remnants of fabrics become nothing. So I bought them. I didn’t negotiate very well either. I decided I wanted to tell a story with the stuff I found. English made gold and brass buttons, old Chanel buttons from alterations they had done and so on.
The buttons I rejuvenated by bathing them in Coca Cola for a number of days, a nifty trick Mrs Velardi showed me. I put the wool to good use taking 1 metre here and 1 metre from there to make a schism jacket. I added in the Chanel buttons. For a different look I decided to experiment with different weights of tie linings instead of that more spongy English horsehair canvas for the lapel and chest lining. The result was perfection and when I was at a bar on the first night I wore it the bartender immediately asked where he could source it and I ended up converting him into an Instagram follower.
The average Australian throws out 23kg of clothing each year. I am no exception. I end up giving t shirts to friends of a similar size just so that I avoid putting it in the clothing bin. Besides which I put so much time and effort into weeding the metallics and design that goes into our t shirts that I can’t bear to throw them away. And that is certainly a message I wish to convey to you all, if you have a way of salvaging fabrics in your life, try to. We are sending too much to landfill each year. And that goes for our bow ties, I hope you never move them on, someone will want them, find that someone.
So that is the news of the company. Myself, my seamstresses, my tailor.
I hope all of you are well. I look forward to hearing from you and in the near future we should start to put into play new limited editions but to be fair, many of you are no longer shopping the website so we won’t be putting the same effort into our limited editions until we start to see some traction again from the website. In the meantime and as always, I am a message away - +61413140994
And can I please ask if you have not done so already, we love testimonials and there are a big help. Click here to leave one.
You can google us to read the most recent testimonials we have received and we are enormously proud to deliver beyond customer's expectations and accordingly we have, touch wood, been reviewed with as many stars as is possible. We won't be resting on our laurels any time soon as it is our dedication to honing our craft and the pursuit of great beauty in neckwear that keeps us going even in this unusual time of covid and changes in the workplace and working from home. Keep us in mind when you are ready and you can drop us a line directly on +61413140994 .
Team Le Noeud Papillon - makers of fine silk bow ties, ties, silk kerchiefs, pocket squares and more.
You might as well wear a face mask that is made of the finest materials if you are going to wear them every day. Our face masks are lined with the finest Swiss or Italian cottons and feature our limited edition silks amongst many other classic designs of grosgrain, satin, ottoman and more. See www.lenoeudpapillon.com for more details. +
