Thursday, November 11, 2010

Fall/Winter Collection



Fall is almost behind us so it seemed as good a time as any to introduce a fall collection of shirts. It’s a small collection, but a diverse mix of shirts that are part England/part Virginia.

The Starks Gingham

First off, the Starks Gingham. We took the popular summer Starks Gingham and added two new patterns for the fall colors. We love this shirt and have trouble keeping it on the shelves. The fabric is Italian woven 100s poplin that’s heavier in weight and smooth in texture. It’s a tight weave, which makes it naturally wrinkle resistant. As an added bonus, like most poplins, it gets softer and softer after each wash.

Perhaps my favorite detail of the Starks is the collar. We have introduced the Ledbury Spread on a handful of shirts this fall. It’s a true spread collar, which I think makes it great for wear casual. And if you are going to wear it with a tie (make it a solid), the bolder spread compliments the bolder pattern.

(And this is a little neurotic so skip ahead if you have more pressing demands on your time, but we designed the collar with the intention of having a nice little roll to it. The roll is dictated by the height of the collar band, the length of the points, fusing, the placement of the collar stays, etc. Long story short, when the collar breaks in there should be a roll to it that somewhat resembles the roll of button collar. Sort of a cursive L shape. You can help the process along (and this is certainly over the top) by putting pressure outward and up on the base of the color points when you first put it on in the morning.


The Gentry Check



Next is the Gentry Check. A great casual shirt made with a lightweight Zephir fabric from Thomas Mason. The shirt’s weight makes it a good one to be worn under a sweater or blazer in the winter. Deep fall colors are accented by small white checks and from a distance give the shirt an appearance of a solid. Great all around casual winter shirts.



The Huntsman


The last shirt, and probably my favorite, is The Huntsman. It’s a limited edition, patterned off of an old work shirt that I inherited from my grandfather’s closet. Moleskin is an incredibly comfortable cotton fabric, woven from fine threads of long staple cotton and then sheared to create a short soft texture on one side. Most mills make moleskin for pants and jackets, which can be bulky and consequently, we had to do searching to find just the right stuff. We finally tracked down a perfect roll from a small Italian mill near Como. Dark blue, mid-weight and incredibly soft, it’s a perfect shirting fabric. Constructed with double breast pockets, a mid-spread collar and finished with mother of pearl buttons. It’s the most comfortable thing we have ever done.