“Times have changed,” wrote Mr. Cole Porter, “but we’ve often rewound the clock…”

Yes, the double-breasted sport coat, blazer and suit are back in fashion. But if your idea of the classic DB is … classic

Classic, in this case being defined by the longer, slightly boxy coat with a  deep overlap, and a very drapey chest featuring landing-deck wide lapels…

Well, that’s not where the current crop take their inspiration from. Instead, take a bit of the late 70′s…

Combine it with a big dose of turn of the last century attitude… (read: sex it up)

And you get a slimmed down, very wearable, flattering cut that can be used as a casual jacket, a formal suit, or something in-between.

Just right with slim cut khakis, grey flannels and jeans when worn with an open collar, or no collar at all. Especially when dealing with the Law.

Or pair it with the classic spread collar, tie and your medals for appearances at Court.

Anyway you choose to wear it is OK (click the link to see what GQ says), just ask for the “6, buttons 2, peak lapel” configuration, button it at the middle (and yes, you can wear the DB if you’re just a bit … errr…. prosperous  around the middle, the buttons create a lengthening line) and step out in style this year.

Leviner Wood’s custom double-breasted suit, blazer or sportcoat, available in tweed, flannel, year-round worsted and cashmere for fall.

“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.