Reader's Attire #2 Nicolas

Headwear is essential in my wardrobe. During the Winter to protect me from the cold and in the Summer to protect me from the sun. My baldness doesn’t help !  

I often wear an orange beanie with this down jacket (I might as well go all-in) but the pouring rain during the photoshoot led me to opt for a cap instead. This one, in corduroy, comes from "An Ivy Copenhagen", a Danish brand very inspired by the golden age of Ivy style and discovered thanks to one of my Instagram contacts (@lanecdotedemonsieur). I regret not having chosen my Yankees cap to please Romain (@lastrolab), who was participating in the shoot with me. 

The down jacket is another of my winter basics. Even if I am the proud owner of a cozy camelhair coat I love, I often prefer this down jacket: more resistant, warmer, waterproof - in short, more practical. And I particularly appreciate the casualness of the piece, which allows me to partly drift away from the formal suit I’m wearing. The parka is from Frizmworks, a Korean brand I found on All Blues Co, a top-quality English shop. I love its bright orange color, which in addition to being cheerful, is very useful on Paris’ dangerous streets !  (Yes, when I’m facing cyclists or just crossing the road…). There are, alas, drawbacks to this piece: the buttons are not very resistant (I had to replace 3 or 4 of them) but most of all, the parka lacks pockets, which is problematic for a dad like me!

The suit is from Ardentes Clipei, my Parisian tailor since a few years now. Romain Biette is the first tailor I felt totally comfortable with. He is a great listener and will bend over backwards to satisfy my sartorial needs while advising and guiding me to avoid falling into one of the many pitfalls of the made-to-measure process. The suit is in a Huddersfield flannel. I chose a broad chalk-stripe fabric, making it more casual and less of a “banker-suit” vibe. The patch pockets and the "3 roll 2" buttoning are totally Ivy League inspired for me, but I kept other more European details like the two openings in the back and the darts on the front of the jacket. 

I paired this suit with a striped "fun shirt" from Jakes London, the "it-shirtmaker" of the last two years (with Buttice in Paris of course). I've been wearing fun shirts since the 90's, it's become a must-have for me.

This one has a generous cut, which is something to consider when buying and putting together your outfits. I will not detail here the story behind the fun but I will point out that this one does not have the color yellow usually found in such shirts. And thanks to this, I find this fun shirt almost serious. I'm even willing to bet that some readers won't have noticed it and will have taken it for a simple blue striped shirt!

Last but not least, I'm wearing Alden Chukka boots, bought second hand. More formal than sneakers (because yes, I sometimes wear sneakers with suits, go ahead, burn me!) but more casual and especially more comfortable than a classic Oxford.