“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.

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.

Here’s an idea courtesy of Leviner Wood Custom Tailors and Shirtmakers: Get more uses from your six favorite ties.

You’ve got hundreds of ties don’t you? But let’s face it, you really only love about six of them, right? And you wind up wearing them with the same four shirts over and over again.

Why not get more use out of those same ties and build another dozen choices into your wardrobe? The great advantage to having Leviner Wood as your custom tailor is that you have your clothing made.

There is very little in the way of inventory hanging around the studio. Nope, you get thousands of choices, not dozens that were bought thanks to runway trends and now have to be moved.

Let’s take those ties we were talking about.

Bring them in to the studio at 2012 Monument Ave. . Then let’s get out the big, three-ring binder of shirting materials and pick three fabrics that play beautifully with each one of those favorite ties. That’s the way everyone used to do things and the way that we, as custom tailors and shirtmakers still can.

Take a look at that photo at the top of the page. That was from “Apparel Arts” magazine, summer of ’34 or so. It was an industry rag that reported on what was being worn and how to wear it. The center swatch is suiting fabric, the next ring is shirtings, the outer ring is for accessories like ties, socks, pocket squares. One suit, twelve different combinations. Correction: suggested combinations based on season and popularity. All guaranteed winners.

Call keeping up appearances with a minimum of effort on your part. We’ll do the matching, even take photos of suggested combinations for you. All you’ve got to do is bring in those six ties that you love so much. So double down on that repp. Box a favorite regimental stripe. Hit the trifecta of perfect shirts with that beautiful, heavy woven silk number. If that isn’t added value, we don’t know what is.

Larry will be headed for Hampton Roads, Newport News and Virginia Beach this Wednesday (August 11, 2010), bringing beautifully tailored custom suits and a few shirts to clients in the area. If you’d like to make an appointment with him, Larry has a few openings during which he can meet with you to discuss your sartorial needs or thumb through the new fall swatches.

Fall is just around the corner. Start it off by looking your best in a Leviner Wood custom tailored wardrobe. Call Larry at 804.928.7946 or email him by clicking the link.

(Fountain, Charles “Another Man’s Poison: The Life and Writing of Columnist George Frazier”, the Globe Pequot Press, 1984, p. 218)

John Webb, a WWII submariner stationed on a Naval base in St Thomas, was the man to bring St John’s colognes to the world. He moved to St Thomas in 1946 to make his dream a reality. The distinctive “fish-pot weave” of Tyre palm leaves was introduced in 1952 when he met St Barth’s native Joe Felix and before long some 200 families were involved in the production of the iconic Bay Rum bottle. In 1959, West Indian Lime was introduced to cities and college towns across America. Today the fragrances in their unique packaging are sold throughout the world and right here at the Studio on Monument Avenue in Richmond, VA.

So what’s your poison? Either one will leave you smelling like a man … in  a good way.

4 oz. Bay Rum or West Indian Lime Cologne. $40.00

That brings up a question and a thought. Is the dress code necessary? Does it even exist in our overtly democratic time? And if you’re not wearing a tie, why are you wearing a plain white shirt?

(Click to see larger images)

Consider instead a striped, paisley, checked or other patterned shirt to wear with your blue blazer or suit. Pick out a color from the stripe and add a pocket square in a coordinating or contrasting color. pocket squares add personality, like a tie, at a fraction of the price. They also let you stand out while still fitting in.

Leviner Wood Custom Clothiers and Shirtmakers. Hundreds of patterned shirt fabrics. And we carry pocket squares, too.

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.

(Image: Easy and Elegant Life, used with permission.)

Instead, opt for a pick-me-up like the Spaniards do. At least at the weekend. This thing is infused with garlic, but it really does give you a lift. Since onions lend themselves to fermentation, they are traditionally left out of the recipe which was developed in the days long before refrigeration was introduced. If serving as a soup, top it with chopped hard-boiled eggs, some country ham and some chopped onion. Leftovers can be blended with vodka on Sunday morning…

Gazpacho

2 slices of day old bread, or about 3 inches of day old baguette

2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar

2 ripe Hanover tomatoes. (If using a blender, skinned and seeded. If you have a Vita-Mix, just quarter them.)

1 green pepper, cored and seeded, roughly chopped

2 cloves of garlic, smashed

1 small to medium cucumber, skinned and roughly chopped

2 tablespoons of olive oil

salt and pepper and a little sugar, to taste

Soak the bread in the vinegar, garlic and a little ice-cold water. Add it to the blender and puree. Add the olive oil and the vegetables. Puree. Add ice-cold water until you get a consistency that you like to drink. (If this is to be a soup, you may leave it a bit chunkier, but less so than salsa.) Adjust the seasoning with the salt, pepper and sugar. Transfer to a pitcher and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Chill for at least three hours in the refrigerator. Do not add ice.

“I wear this one less often, because of its cut which suggests rather the fashions of an earlier age.” So said The Duke of Windsor in A Family Album.

He was referring to a navy fur-lined overcoat with an Astrakhan collar made for him by Simpson & London Ltd. in 1934 and seen above. It reached almost to his ankles and fell in pleats down the back below the waist line. Fashionable man-about-town that he was, he knew that this coat, although perfect for a bitterly cold day in New York, had no real place in his wardrobe after the 1950′s. Fashions had changed, as he so rightly noted in his memoirs.

The Duke of Windsor continued to wear many of the suits and hats that he had commissioned in the 1930′s and 1940′s. He had more suits, jackets and trousers made up in the 1950′s and I imagine continued right up until his death. He was a clotheshorse after all, and he was very stylish.

The point of all this is that when your clothes are cut with an eye toward enduring style, they will last you forever. Lapels will narrow and widen. Skinny suits will come and go. Pleats will be back. The great secret in creating custom clothing is that you can follow the vagaries of fashion — when it suits you — and ignore them when they don’t.

In other words, Leviner Wood Custom Clothiers and Shirtmakers are here to make you look good all the time. Own your look, be precisely tailored, work with us to create clothing with enduring style and you will never have to pack away a fashionable mistake again.