Click through for an even closer look at the newest, most comfortable Summer fabrics.

Are your gabardine, heavy khaki cotton or three-season wool trousers a bit too much to take for Summer business casual, golf outings or weekend social events? You can still bring your “A” game with a pair of custom-made, incredibly lightweight wool, oxford cloth, linen, seersucker, cotton or wicker fabric trousers.

Leviner Wood has more choices than even the largest of big box men’s wear stores. We have thousands of choices in your size, custom-designed in pleated or plain front to keep you comfortable during the dog days. But don’t panic, we’ll help you pick out a pair that’s right for you and are happy to match up your trouser choice with the perfect sportcoat, shirt, shoes, even necktie, if necessary.

Remember Father’s Day is this weekend, and we promise that we won’t leave you hanging. Send a link to this post to your wife or kids and ask for a gift certificate good for a pair or two today. Summer’s Custom Ultralight Trousers starting at $195.

Face it, most of us don’t look like a young Marlon Brando, but we all wish there were days we could get by wearing a t-shirt.

Good news! You can. Just be sure to choose a t-shirt that is as well-cut as your unstructured sportcoat and stay away from the 501′s, mechanic’s boots, and crazy women. Introducing Leviner Wood’s LVT in 100% Supima Cotton (the softest there is) available in the only three you’ll need colors: white, gray and black. $52.00.

T-shirts. 3 + sportcoat. 100% Supima cotton, soft, structured, works great under a sportcoat with jeans. $52/ea. Available in 3 colors White, Gray, Black.

Wouldn’t it be nice if all your clothes were made the same way? Even those favorite jeans that set you back almost as much as your first car? Even finding jeans that fit right and look good without being “pre-distressed”, logo’ed, riveted, tattooed and stylishly wrinkled has become a nightmare.

When did that happen? Jeans should be easy.

Introducing jeans made of Holland & Sherry cloth. Two washes — indigo and blue. Straight leg. Five, unadorned, pockets. Finally, a pair of jeans that you can wear forever.

Oh yeah, they can be custom made, too, for about the same price as the trendy, skinny, ripped, pre-stained things that the kids are wearing. At least this week.

Call Larry now to order a pair or two.

Of the many questions we get asked here at Leviner Wood Custom Tailors and Shirtmakers, none is as frequently brought up as those concerning the folds of cloth over the chest and shoulder blades of a suit coat, what we call “drape.”

Just to confuse the issue a bit more, there are drape cuts and coats cut with drape. The most famous drape cut was invented in the 1930′s by a man named Scholte at Anderson & Sheppard of Savile Row. It’s most famous proponent was Fred Astaire, a man who knew how to move a suit. Before Scholte, if you wanted to get some extra room for movement out of your coat  (for golf, shooting, riding, driving…), you would have had pleats or a bi-swing back built into your suit.

Scholte invented the cut after seeing how Guardsmen’s military overcoats made them look very athletic with strong shoulders and suppressed waists and lots of cloth. He replicated this look by building up the chest and shoulder blades of his coats. The look is very relaxed and soft compared with the strictly heavily padded and sharp lines of a jacket by Huntsman, say. The cut came to be known as the Drape Cut, the London Cut, and the London Blade. There is a very clear shot of drape across the chest in the photo of Bogie, above. Eventually, the drape cut was exaggerated into the zoot suit and the 80′s power suit. But in its true form, it is still a very elegant silhouette. Evidence of draping can be seen in the illustration below (from Gentlemen’s Gazette). It shows the small folds at the sleevehead, under the arms and the fullness at the chest tapering into the suppressed waist.

Today’s suits and sportcoats are all cut with some amount of drape across the shoulder blades — even the clean, slim cuts favored by the Italians. All coats have to have some fullness across the back to allow you to move your arms forward (to drive your car, reach for the keyboard, hail a cab, whatever.) The advantage to having your clothing made is that you can control the amount of drape, and therefore the amount of comfort, built into the coat. But take it all out and you would feel like you were wearing a straightjacket.

At least we think it’d be crazy. There is a method to our madness, after all.

Relief, Recovery, Reform. That was the platform for The New Deal orchestrated by FDR. Politics aside, it sounds pretty good, so we’ve coopted the phrase to offer Leviner Wood’s very own New New Deal:

New Fall Fabrics are in. What a relief. We can’t wait for the heat to end either.

New Subscribers to our blog/newsletter are sure to get special offers. Special offers? Yes. And when you recover from your shock, you’ll find:

New New Deals will be made ONLY to subscribers. (That’s a reform of our policy regarding discounts. You’ve got to read the emails to take advantage of these secret deals.)

Ready to take advantage? Have our newsletter delivered directly to your email inbox.

While he now calls Richmond his turf, Larry is returning home to Charlottesville (and Lynchburg) to visit clients.

If you’d like to make an appointment or find out more about which Corner Larry called his stomping grounds, give a call (804.928.7946) or email him here. In the meantime dream about mornings at Bodo’s, days on grounds and nights on the Downtown Mall.