Steven Hitchcock

Steven & Celia

The Label

A writer's jacket





The Goods

Linings

Pocket Square

Brown & Blue

Cleverley Side Gusset


My favorite tattoo


No relation to Alfred. Just as well. The world hardly needs another film director but is starving for tailors. Steven started with Anderson & Shepard at 16. He's a young looking 38 but has been working the cloth for 22 years. A blogger as well -- a post on his typical day can be found here.

I met Steven and his girlfriend Celia yesterday afternoon at the Benjamin Hotel on 50th and Lex. We discussed Steven's shop on Savile Row, tailoring, goods, linings, Cleverley shoes...The usual suspects.

Steven prefers a soft tailored aesthetic and that only makes sense coming from A&S. The beauty is hidden in the details as opposed to a more obvious Huntsman or Poole silhouette. I'm a fan of both. Why be monogamous when you don't have to.

Extinct Etamine Etymolgy

The Holy Grail

Etamine pullover


Etamine in yellow, white, blue, pink and melon


Etamine defined


I was talking to Tom Davis (MTM Shirts) at Brooks Brothers last week. We covered a lot of ground but everything stopped when he brought up etamine. An ultra light voile-like fabric used by Brooks Brothers for shirting years ago. I did some digging around and didn't find much. I'm still digging.

A weekend wander through textile and fashion books reveal the letter 'E' has the fewest entries and etamine ain't one of 'em. The internet will tell you it's a light porous cotton in an open mesh, susceptible to snagging, with a slight gloss finish. Dig a little deeper into the etymology and, by 1936, etamine is pretty much extinct.

Hardly a surprise Brooks Brothers catalogs from the late '70s and early '80s show the shirt Tom remembered. Short sleeve pullover in basic blue, yellow and white with pink and melon added in 1981. Great colors, popular pullover style and a fabric that appears to breathe better than linen. Cheaper too according to a web site that sells etamine for three bucks a meter (beware minimum order).

Who knows if etamine today is the same as it was in 1981? That's a question not a statement. If you know, please let me know, since the hunt is on. Summers don't look like they're gonna get any cooler.