Esquire's 2014 Spring/Summer Big Black Book

It's finally here! Like a child waiting for Christmas morning! I went to B&N several times looking for this, thinking it would be out earlier since it is already April.

I'm most excited about the possible resurgence of the double breasted suit. It was extremely popular the 1940s and 50s (check on these dates), made a comeback in the 1990s and his been dormant for almost 25 years. Joseph Abboud offers a DB model in its custom suit program, which is only available at The Men's Wearhouse I was going to purchase one last month, but I had to wait. I actually want to purchase three, a charcoal gray pinstripe, a navy glen plaid, and a navy houndstooth with a burgundy windowpane. This edition of BBB has 5 different DB models listed.

Some interesting locales to visit are Cap Estel, Cape Town, and Costa Careyes.

If you have a hankering for a watch that costs more than 15.000 USD, BBB suggests models from Audemars Piguet, Rolex, Patek Philippe, Blancpain, and Breguet. They include other price points ranging from 10.000 - 15.000 USD, 7.500 - 10.000 USD, 3.000 - 7.500 USD, and less than 3.000 USD. The only TAG Heuer model profiled is the Steel Monaco 24 retailing for 13.500 USD.

The One-Day Apprentice is an article by Richard Dorment. He spends a day at the Caesar Attolini headquarters in Naples to see what is involved in creating a sport coat entirely by hand.  Ninety-nine percent of clothing you purchase today is made in a factory by machines. With so much competition it is the most cost effective way to mass produce garments. Then you have the rarified one percent of clothing that is made by hand and the prices reflect this. Oxxford suits that cost 6.000 USD, Ralph Lauren cashmere overcoats 7.500 USD, John Lobb shoes 8.000 USD, and Kiton sport coats 4.500 USD.

GQ Style: What to Wear Now Spring & Summer 2014

I was looking for the latest copy of Esquire's Big Black Book at B&N and I stumbled across this. This is the GQ version of The Big Black Book. I don't why they waited 8 years to create their own version.

This issue has a several interesting articles. The two I like are the spread on different stripes of seersucker. Some choices include olive, red, and brown. I own a seersucker suit in blue. This is the only color I would consider as it is the most traditional. The style of the suit, however,  is not traditional. I choose a double vented jacket with a flat front pant. The more traditional is a single vented jacket with pleated pants. Here is a photo of a seersucker suit.

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The second article I took note of is, The Badass Banker Suit, article. Most suits off the rack are single breasted. This means the the two sides of the jacket button in the middle whereas in a double breasted suit, the left side overlaps a part of the right and is buttoned there. I am going to purchase a custom Joseph Abboud gray pinstripe double breasted suit this weekend from The Men's Wearhouse. The suit is pre-altered at the factory which is located in New Bedford, MA. My suit will be slightly different from the suit in the picture. It will have a ticket pocket, a small pocket above the pocket on the right side of the jacket and the pants will not be cuffed. They will sport a plain hem which is correct for a flat front pant. 

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Other articles of note include a features on David Hockney and Toshiro Mifune. On the style side, appropriate man bags, the commandments of wearing Hawaiian shirts, cargo shorts with the pockets on the front of the thigh as opposed to the side, and the alternative to leather, suede.