Patrick Hall's Instagram account (link below) leapt out at me as he wears beautifully tailored suits, many vintage, in what seems to me to be a particularly American way. Not just US sack suits here, but also well-cut tailoring with soft shoulders, vibrant colours and checks, jackets with the top button on the roll of the lapel, spearpoint shirt collars (either button-down or worn with a tie bar) and buckskin shoes.
GF: How would you describe your style?
PH: I dress as formally as I can get away with, in an American culture where informality has become its own religious fundamentalism.
GF: What sort of clothes do you wear and where do you find them?
PH: I wear tailored clothes that run the gamut from rustic to smart. They were all procured via the Internet, or ordered directly from tailors.
GF: Please describe the main style influences in your life - past and present.
PH: I came to faith as a white child at a Black Episcopal (Anglican) church here in Houston. In the United States, Black men are some of the last people keeping the aesthetic language of tailored clothes alive. I was impressed in my youth by the elegance of these men, many of whom were doctors, lawyers, bankers, and architects – they were erudite well-educated professionals with exquisite taste. Also, Anglican prayer-book worship inculcates a certain reverence towards public space, its order, and aesthetic possibilities.
GF: What are your favourite brands and stores?
PH: My bespoke suits are made by Steed, a west-end tailor who cut a drape coat, and are well known among the Internet menswear crowd, and a local tailor named Alberto Lazcano. My off-the-rack items are mostly made by Ring Jacket, Spier & Mackay, and Cavour. I have several vintage Brooks Brothers sack coats as well, and I love them dearly.
PH: My Instagram is @therevdmr. All my other socials are more church-oriented, and less likely to be of interest to Grey Fox readers.
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Patrick Hall appears to be totally relaxed in his suits. If you are hesitating to dust off your suits post-covid, take a look at how comfortable he looks and you won't see the suit as a totally formal garment again. I asked him to tell us more about his style:
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| Patrick Hall @therevdmr |
GF: Please introduce yourself, what’s your name, where are you based and what do you do?
PH: My name is Patrick Hall. I live in Houston, TX, where I work as an Episcopal (Anglican) priest. I am the rector of Epiphany Church, a small parish in southwest Houston.
GF: When and how did you first become interested in style, in clothes and dressing well?
PH: When I was a child, I was a ring-bearer in a wedding. I wore hired morning dress – a tailcoat and striped trousers, with a starched collar and cravat. I remember feeling elegant, solemn, and like a proper adult. I didn’t want to change after the reception concluded!
PH: My name is Patrick Hall. I live in Houston, TX, where I work as an Episcopal (Anglican) priest. I am the rector of Epiphany Church, a small parish in southwest Houston.
GF: When and how did you first become interested in style, in clothes and dressing well?
PH: When I was a child, I was a ring-bearer in a wedding. I wore hired morning dress – a tailcoat and striped trousers, with a starched collar and cravat. I remember feeling elegant, solemn, and like a proper adult. I didn’t want to change after the reception concluded!
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| Patrick Hall @therevdmr |
GF: How would you describe your style?
PH: I dress as formally as I can get away with, in an American culture where informality has become its own religious fundamentalism.
GF: What sort of clothes do you wear and where do you find them?
PH: I wear tailored clothes that run the gamut from rustic to smart. They were all procured via the Internet, or ordered directly from tailors.
GF: Do you buy mainly ready to wear, tailored or vintage?
PH: My year-round suits are evenly split between 1930s/40s vintage and bespoke orders. Sport coats are off-the-rack items of recent manufacture. All my odd trousers are also ready-to-wear. This is because my sport coats and odd trousers take more abuse. I wear them to travel, and on weekends when I am more active and outside. As a result, I am reticent to pay bespoke prices for them. These items are eventually ruined by the rigors of wear and the caprice of fate. I am also unwilling to pay bespoke prices for seasonal suits, because they are inherently less versatile, and summer suits are subject to ruinous stains due to their lighter hues. I can’t abide being out four or five figures on account of grass stains or a stubborn coffee spill.
PH: My year-round suits are evenly split between 1930s/40s vintage and bespoke orders. Sport coats are off-the-rack items of recent manufacture. All my odd trousers are also ready-to-wear. This is because my sport coats and odd trousers take more abuse. I wear them to travel, and on weekends when I am more active and outside. As a result, I am reticent to pay bespoke prices for them. These items are eventually ruined by the rigors of wear and the caprice of fate. I am also unwilling to pay bespoke prices for seasonal suits, because they are inherently less versatile, and summer suits are subject to ruinous stains due to their lighter hues. I can’t abide being out four or five figures on account of grass stains or a stubborn coffee spill.
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| Patrick Hall |
GF: Please describe the main style influences in your life - past and present.
PH: I came to faith as a white child at a Black Episcopal (Anglican) church here in Houston. In the United States, Black men are some of the last people keeping the aesthetic language of tailored clothes alive. I was impressed in my youth by the elegance of these men, many of whom were doctors, lawyers, bankers, and architects – they were erudite well-educated professionals with exquisite taste. Also, Anglican prayer-book worship inculcates a certain reverence towards public space, its order, and aesthetic possibilities.
GF: What are your favourite brands and stores?
PH: My bespoke suits are made by Steed, a west-end tailor who cut a drape coat, and are well known among the Internet menswear crowd, and a local tailor named Alberto Lazcano. My off-the-rack items are mostly made by Ring Jacket, Spier & Mackay, and Cavour. I have several vintage Brooks Brothers sack coats as well, and I love them dearly.
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| @theevdmr |
GF: What is/are your favourite individual item(s) of clothing?
PH: A three-piece suit, with notch lapels, a six-button double-breasted waistcoat cut very high after the fashion of the 1930s, finished with high-waisted full trousers with deep pleats, cut from a sixteen-ounce worsted wool. Alternatively, a soft-shouldered three button tweed sack coat with patch pockets and a center vent.
PH: A three-piece suit, with notch lapels, a six-button double-breasted waistcoat cut very high after the fashion of the 1930s, finished with high-waisted full trousers with deep pleats, cut from a sixteen-ounce worsted wool. Alternatively, a soft-shouldered three button tweed sack coat with patch pockets and a center vent.
GF: Would you say that your style is still developing? If so, how?
PH: At this point, I think I have arrived at what feels like me. I’m sure my style WILL evolve with time, but we are past the point in my journey where that evolution will be a consciously directed one.
PH: At this point, I think I have arrived at what feels like me. I’m sure my style WILL evolve with time, but we are past the point in my journey where that evolution will be a consciously directed one.
GF: What skills would you say that you have that help you in your search for style?
PH: Some obsessive-compulsive tendencies.
PH: Some obsessive-compulsive tendencies.
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| Patrick Hall |
GF: What are your top tips for others on a search for style?
PH: Think of style as a language. What each item of clothing “says,” matters less than whether, at any given moment, all the clothes you are wearing are saying the same thing at the same time. Be honest with yourself about what fits your body. Be honest with yourself about what you have the courage to wear. If an item in your closet causes you difficulty, give it away. Hone in on what feels easy to wear for you. Once you’ve identified it, work out from there.
GF: Many thanks for your unique perspective on style. Where can you be found on Instagram and other media?
PH: Think of style as a language. What each item of clothing “says,” matters less than whether, at any given moment, all the clothes you are wearing are saying the same thing at the same time. Be honest with yourself about what fits your body. Be honest with yourself about what you have the courage to wear. If an item in your closet causes you difficulty, give it away. Hone in on what feels easy to wear for you. Once you’ve identified it, work out from there.
GF: Many thanks for your unique perspective on style. Where can you be found on Instagram and other media?
PH: My Instagram is @therevdmr. All my other socials are more church-oriented, and less likely to be of interest to Grey Fox readers.
from Grey Fox https://ift.tt/0vibulp
via IFTTT