There’s something tasty on the horizon and it’s about damn time!
One
of the highlights of 2018 for me so far—other than the got my life back spine surgery—is my new acquaintance with Rick
Hindin. Rick is the co-creator of the
inimitable Britches of Georgetowne and he’s as creative and thoughtful and wise
as ever. I just want to hang out with him.
And
you’ve probably read my tale about Britches of Georgetowne and Ralph’s monochromatic
visit one evening. It’s probably my favorite Mark Rykken story. Britches will
always rank high in the pantheon of sartorial light houses—leastways for the
development of my fuzzy tendencies. I have two white pinpoint oxford dress shirts remaining from my Britches trove. The Astaire model. Longish point collar, ultimately pinnable with my stick thru silver collar pin. The shirts posses patina and the collars sport battle scars of countless joust throughs as I anchored the collar and heightened the visual interest of the tie knot. Shut up.
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Britches Bespoke Donegal Country Tweed |
Rick
retrieved the Britches of Georgetowne brand some time ago and has incubated a
really cool new version of Britches. And yes, I’m avoiding the reincarnation cliché. One of the things
that I like about Rick is his wariness of too much sentiment. Certainly he’s
bringing Britches of Georgetowne insight and panache to the evolving Britches
iteration. But really it’s more about the future.
Then
there’s my brother Rykken. Mark’s been swathing me for over twenty-five years—both
in clothing and friendship. And now the Flusser protégé late of Paul Stuart is back
with Hindin and his Britches roots.
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Britches Bespoke Inaugural Gray Flannel Tastiness |
BritchesBespoke is the Hindin-Rykken first chapter in the contemporary iteration of
Britches. There’s more to come over time but Britches Bespoke is the
foundational first step.
This ain’t just a Rebranded Rykken Reboot!
Ok,
so Rykken’s doing custom again. Mark’s stalwart D.C. and N.Y.C. customers will
surely be pleased to know. Wherever Mark’s been plying his skills and wares
over the last decade frankly made no difference. The taste level was always high and the bells, whistles, and for me; the fuzzy-dice options never disappointed. It's a safe bet that the same will hold true for Britches Bespoke.
Customers have always been assured of
getting the highest level of Mark’s talent regardless of the label inside
the jacket. I know this firsthand because my closet attests it. And the goods last forever, assuming that you don't double in size. I've been wearing the suit in the above photo for twenty-three years.
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Britches Bespoke Outerwear Tastiness |
So
even if you aren’t in the market for a suit or sport jacket, don’t miss the
upcoming Britches Bespoke trunk shows. Why? Because the Rykken-Hindin magic
only begins with custom clothing. I'm all-in if for no other reason than bespoking a quilted toggle-closure winter coat in my never available midgety a_s size.
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The Britches Bespoke and Special Order Shoddings...Solely Worth a Visit |
I've spent enough dough with George Cleverley et al and they're not likely to get another dime. And it isn't an understatement for me to say that the Rykken-Hindin footwear lineup means you'll never have to wait on your London cobbler to roll back into the States for your next fitting.
It’s the other Britches Bespoke offerings that have me most excited.
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Donegal and Quilted...Indeed |
What's different is that Rick and Mark are offering tasty outerwear, belts, sportswear,
bespoke shoes and other goodies that will make Britches Bespoke and their inaugural
trunk shows attractive to everyone.
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Knee Level Tweediness |
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Pop Your Collar in Yellow or Not |
When was the last time you saw a knee length car coat that was this tasty? Hell, the tasty meter ain't robust enough to even measure the fuzziness of this Britches Bespoke concoction.
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Outerwear Your Way...Customize it until your fuzzy heart's content! |
So you need to come and see it for
yourself. The promises are big but so are the tasty deliverables!
 |
Regimentals Bold and Beautiful |
New York
June
27th -29th 9:00am-6:00pm
The Royalton
Hotel
44
West 44th Street
Washington D.C.
July
11th-13th 9:00am-6:00pm
Sofitel
806
15th Street N.W.
Reach
out to Mark and let him know you are coming. Rykken.mark@gmail.com I’ll be there and you should too.
12 comments:
Very pleased to see a new post from you!
Best Regards,
Heinz-Ulrich von B.
I happened to glance at your website today for the first time in ages - and wonder of wonders - discovered a couple of new posts. Good to see you back. I'm glad to hear the spinal surgery went well, although I can't imagine how awful things must be to need spinal surgery in the first place. And good to see the update about LFG in the comments to the last post- although I was reading your blog when she was very small, so it's a bit of a shock to hear she's off to college. All the best!
Herr/Signor von Boffke...thanks very much. I enjoyed reengaging with the old Maxminimus platform. We shall see if I can churn out another tale sometime soon. Thanks again.
Sir Fopling...nice to hear from you and thanks for saying hello. The last nine years have flown by. LFG will be leaving for Charleston in six weeks and she continues to be a joy. The last three years have thrown me a few curves but the 2017 spine saga was epic. The second half of the year was a blur. The surgery was a miracle.
Thanks so much for posting about this and an early welcome to the Big Apple! I hope to meet you one of these days through the #Menswear world.
Great news indeed, and great to be see this your blog again. I will never forget drooling at the Georgetown store in 1989 when I interned in DC and then treating myself to nice grey suit for my first "President's Club" trip as sales guy in Corporate America about ten years later. I still have it of course. A truly great store and brand.
ADG,
Glad to see you again sir, did not know you were stove up.
Get well.
Lordy, Lordy! Who'da thunk it? I, too, just happened to wonder about my dear old friend ADG, and upon pointing my browser at him, find a post from the master himself, just a few days old!
I am sorry to hear about your back problems, but am happy to hear that you are much better.
LFG off to college? How is that even possible? Well, my son is a Cub Scout (and I'm his Den Leader), so I guess children grow up.
Ennyhoo, I'm sure you're going to get something almost off the fuzzy scale, with jetted hacking pockets (including a couple of ticket pockets), five or six cuff buttons (but only one buttoned), chartreuse under-collar, hot pink suede leather trim, and a flapped breast pocket with an opening in the back so you can shove a pocket square in it anyway. Can't wait to see it!
If you don't mind my asking, how was your spine injured?
Cecelia...I don't mind you asking at all.
It wasn't an "event" that caused my problem. It just developed over time. I had severe stenosis--the narrowing of the space in the vertebrae where the spinal cord passes thru. Three of my vertebrae were involved...L4-L5-S1...lumbar, lower back area.
I also had occlusions/narrowing of the foramen in all three of those as well. The foramen are the small openings through which nerves branching off of the spinal cord exit and extend throughout the body. So my spinal cord and various nerve roots exiting through the foramen were impinged.
It began as a minor nuisance during June of last year. By January I need a wheelchair.And I cannot adequately describe the pain. My other-worldly-caliber pain kidney stones felt like a blow job compared to this. Sorry for the metaphor.
Young Fogey!!! Great to hear from you. If I was going to create something with the Britches Bespoke folks it would be nothing less than what you've described. Alas, being out of work for six months-ish and cutting checks to College of Charleston precludes any pouncing. Hoping that all is peaceful in your world.
Anon Texan...Thanks. I'm un-stoved up now. Almost maniacally so.
Paul in NOVA...ah, the summer intern days in Washington.
Makaga...thanks very much.
ADG, thanks for your reply. I had a family go through what you describe.
No amount of pain medicine brought him relief and when they finally operated they found a piece of a disk lodged under a nerve. They flushed it out with water.
He recuperated rapidly afterwards, but his hair went completely white. He was forty-two at the time.
Glad you have your life back.
Years and years and years ago, two Astaire-model white shirts from Britches (at Springfield Mall, as I recall) were maybe my very-firstest purchase outside the Official Preppy Handbook reservation where I'd been living since junior high. Less than a year later, I bought my first collar pin and never looked back. Still nothing quite like the crispness of a long-point white shirt.
Still, even that memory doesn't make me feel as old as the thought of LFG going to college. Makes me realize how long I've been reading your stuff, and how happy I am to see you posting again — and more significantly, to know you've made it through your health issues. Sincere best wishes to you, sir.
Cecelia, I totally understand the predicament that your family member was in. I've aged ten years in the last three. Most of it accelerated by the events of the last year. My hair is more gray than not and more gone than present.
Andrew...Springfield Mall--now that's a throwback. And yes, I'm still getting my mind around how quickly these years have blown by. I was in a bank meeting with LFG yesterday. Her credit score is higher than mine.
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