This is what breaking up The Beatles can do to you.

But we all know why we rocked the hairstyle of the 80′s. .. We had something to prove. Yup, we held down real jobs, but we had wild sides too. All business up front. All party in the back.

We at Leviner Wood suggest a more subtle way of showing your weekend personality. Perfect with a coat and tie, just as suitable with jeans. Our classic collar and cuff custom linings.

]]> http://levinerwood.com/2011/10/03/business-up-front/feed/ 0 http://levinerwood.com/2011/05/10/spring-and-summer-staples-pt-2-of-3/ http://levinerwood.com/2011/05/10/spring-and-summer-staples-pt-2-of-3/#comments Tue, 10 May 2011 12:59:14 +0000 LW http://levinerwood.com/?p=1282 Continue reading →]]>

Slightly more casual than the last two looks that we showed for spring and summer, here Leviner Wood features your blue blazer (you do have one, right?) This year, why not choose a performance fabric that resists wrinkles, breathes well and can take you from morning to morning if need be? If your old blazer is looking a bit tired, consider switching out your buttons for a new set from our Holland & Sherry collection.

We show the blazer off with a summer favorite: the wide “butcher” stripe shirt. This one is by Luciano Visconti. Meant to be worn open-collared, it features a tonal paisley design inside the button placket to add visual interest without adding a tie.

Finally, we’ve decided that if you’re going to wear jeans, and you will, they should be the right weight, color and cut for those of us who are not spandex wearing rock-stars. Holland & Sherry five-pocket jeans are available in two washes, blue and indigo — which is the new way of saying blue and darker blue — and are cut in classic straight-leg silhouettes that will never go out of style while they keep you stylishly casual. Wear them with an Allen-Edmonds Driving shoe, a look so fast we almost missed the shot.

Come on over and check out all the new summer staples in The Green Room at the Studio on Monument. We’ll get you ready.

But many of you find yourself in a bit of a conundrum. Sure you work in an environment in which cufflinks and French-cuff shirts are appropriate, even desirable, but when you’re meeting with clients … well, that’s another story.

Let’s say your day, a day like today, is looking a bit like this: Partners’ meeting at nine o’clock, a burgers and fries lunch with prospect A, late afternoon meeting with client who owns a manufacturing company and dresses in jeans and boots, drinks with prospect B at the Whisky Grill and dinner reservations at The Jefferson with your wife.

That’s when you rely on clothing that does double duty, like the shirt that our man Steele wears in the photo above. It looks suspiciously like a convertible cuff to us.

What’s a convertible cuff? A shirt cuff that has a button and two button holes so that it may be worn as a regular barrel cuff or, with the addition of cufflinks, a single link cuff (instead of the more familiar double French cuff.) They are the James Bond of shirt cuffs, ready for anything, and a good way of trying out cuff links if you think you might like the look.

Besides, you’ve always wanted a convertible something, haven’t you?

“Hey Larry, can you do non-iron shirts?”

You asked. We listened.

Only ours come with a custom clothier’s twist. Leviner Wood announces its semi-custom, wrinkle-free and stain-free non-iron shirt menu.

• Choose from a regular, slim or full cut.
• Your choice of button-down, spread, point, contrasting or matching fabric collar.
• French and barrel cuffs available. Chest pockets are too, if you like them.
• Monogram them in white, navy, burgundy or black.
• Long-sleeve? Short-sleeve? Sport or Dress shirts? You pick.

Each of our non-iron shirts features an extra long tail to keep it tucked in when you move. Each fabric is made in one of the finest mills in the world and treated with a special finish that keeps the hand supple, the shirts spotless and neat throughout your day. Our shirts are rated 3.8 d.p. out of a possible 4.0 for wrinkle-free garments. And, they look as good as they feel with all the details of a finely made dress shirt. Our full-make non-iron shirts are top-stitched with single-needle tailoring on the arms, bottoms, sleeves and cuffs. Other fine-shirting details are what you’ve come to expect from a custom shirt: split yokes, button plackets on the arms and indestructible pearlized buttons.

Semi-custom means that we can offer our dress shirts at USD $125.00. Choose a swatch or three. You asked. we listened.

Astaire wore his with a double-breasted flannel suit for the ultimate in nonchalance.

Cary Grant’s were the only shirts that he would buy off-the-rack. He even wore one at the end of “North By Northwest”,considered by many to be one of the most stylish films of all time.

One of the best-dressed men of all time, Gianni Agnelli, il avvocato of Fiat fame, didn’t bother to button his collar buttons, practically inventing the Italian concept of sprezzatura. Certainly embodying it better than almost anyone before or since.

The cut is full, roomy, designed with only comfort in mind*. The 3 1/2″ collar is soft, completely unlined, falling to the correctly placed buttons to create the perfect collar roll. The front placket has eight buttons, the second of which is positioned to open just enough when left unbuttoned at the weekend. We make our button downs with one button barrel cuffs and no sleeve placket button and, like the original, we prefer ours without a chest pocket. Who needed one while wearing a three piece suit? This is the two- ply oxford shirt** that you remember gets better and better with age.

Available in all the traditional colors of pink, white and light blue. We also recommend our fancy checks for a distinctive look. (Click to enlarge swatch.)

Prices range from $115 for solids, to $165 for the checks.

* For those of you who prefer a slightly less baggy cut, we are a full made-to-measure shirtmaker and can make your shirt to your specifications.

** For those who prefer a lighter fabric, we also offer our button down in a range of fabrics from Irish linen to Sea Island cotton to pinpoint oxford. With exceptionally light fabrics we recommend a floating lining be placed in the collar to help give it enough body to roll nicely.

Nothing against the polo shirt…

U.S. National Archives, image 04-0125a

… but we’d like to see a return of the short sleeved sport shirt. Something you could toss on over a pair of weathered Nantucket Reds, beat up khaki shorts, your swim suit, or under a blazer and still look decently dressed.

Ideally, we’d create a shirt with a button down collar that also has the button through the back of the collar, a locker loop, one patch pocket, and tails long enough to tuck in if you had to. Madras would play a big part of the ideal summer shirt. The coolest wearing cotton, madras used to bleed when washed creating all sorts of interesting and unique patterns and colors. the new stuff is color fast, but still appropriate and still cool to wear.

Just ask these college students, ca. 1965

Need a couple of the ultimate summer shirts? Give us a call and we’ll pick out some madras. You’ll wear them for years to come.

Here at Leviner Wood we are often asked by first time clients about our shirts. Most haven’t thought too much about shirts. You may know your neck size and sleeve length, your preferred collar and that you like blue or white cotton shirts. The fun of having your shirts made is discovering another collar or cuff style, playing with heavier or lighter fabrics or introducing patterns into your wardrobe.

In our increasingly casual world, there are many of you who may not have to wear a tie unless you’re meeting with your clients. And, if you were to ask us our preference for a “do it all” collar for a shirt, we’d advise you to have several hidden buttondowns at your disposal. The collar, an invention of the late 80′s, is one of those “best of both worlds” things. The hidden buttondown keeps the collar neat and your tie in place for business and off-the-clock, it provides enough structure to keep your collar standing tall under your sportcoat or sweater.

And yes, they look equally good in patterns as they do in blue or white.

Let’s talk casual–sound like it should be easier to dress casually? Yes, it does. It’s also far easier to trip up and that makes for another another good reason to talk to Leviner Wood, where we understand your individual style.

Are we talking about business casual, social casual, golf or tennis casual, or yard clothes?  Excluding yard clothes, it is reasonable to assume ‘overlap’ on some items. (We’ll address this subject at a later post.)

But for now, if you have a section in your closet for social casual — impressing your wife, girlfriend, or friends alike — save a spot for Luchiano Visconti.

Leave it to the Italians to put some fun back into the weekend with shirts that stand out in a  good way. Trim cut, outrageously cool fabrics and great details like contrasting lining make a Luchiano Visconti shirt perfect for cocktails at the bar on Saturday night, or the perfect compliment to linen trousers for that “dressy casual” party. Luchiano Visconti’s vision is predicated on what the modern man wants to wear today.  It is about discovering and creating a fresh, new, individual style for yourself.  Luchiano Visconti uses the finest imported fabrics and combines different prints together to produce contrast details on the collars, cuffs, and placket for a unique look at a great price. We carry regular sizing as well as Big and Tall.  In sport shirts we start at small and go up to 6X and in dress shirts we start at 15 1/2 32-33 and go up to a 22 inch neck with a 42 1/2 sleeve length and every sleeve length in the middle.

They may not be for everyone, but for those of you looking to break out of the same old, same old polo-shirt-on-the-weekend routine, Visconti fits the bill. Call Leviner Wood- we’ll help you select the shirt just right for you from our extensive inventory. You won’t believe how good you look in one. Come on in and try. And yes, some are even paisley.

With the warmer weather, we at Leviner Wood Custom Clothiers find ourselves in shirtsleeves more often than not. We’ve even been known to ditch the tie on the odd day. Which is when we remember with a certain fondness the old Brook Brothers Oxford Cloth Buttondown shirt (called the OCBD on the forums….)

That buttondown staple of our youth was great to wear without a jacket, without a tie and without trousers (thrown over your swimsuit coming back from the pool or during a sail.) It got softer with age, wore like iron and had the perfect collar roll. Perfect.

They don’t do that anymore, the perfect collar roll. Three things seem to have changed: the shorter length of the points on the collars, the addition of lining on collars and cuffs and the positioning of the collar buttons. Don’t get us started on how the non-iron stuff feels.

“But wait!” you shout. “You’re a custom clothier and shirtmaker, doesn’t that mean anything?”

OK, you caught us. If you’d like to revisit that iconic cut, the OCBD with the perfect collar roll, give a call. We can make them just as good as you remember. Even with or without the billowing material around the waist. And for those of you who miss the yellow, blue, red or green stripes… custom may be the only way left to go. We might even find that perfect pink that fades beautifully under the summer sun and salt spray.