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Dashing Man: Robin Wight

Robin Wight is a man of ideas, action and a great deal of charm.

Working as a copy writer, Robin was lucky enough to have hit the hay day of London’s advertising scene, describing himself as an English version of the American ‘Mad Men’. Robin is currently the Co-Founder of advertising agency WRCS and president of The Engine Group.

With a fine tall figure ideal for tailoring, Robin is without a doubt one of Dashing’s most colourful customers, a great admirer of quality British fabrics and a huge fan of the colour purple.

Interestingly Robin was not always such a flamboyant dresser and ironical it was the work place after leaving Cambridge that encouraged his exhibitionism. In the world of advertising during the 70’s and 80’s a personal identity was important especially amongst creatives, a way to be remembered and establish a personal brand. Initially Robin sported bowties and hand painted waistcoats as his ‘brand signalling device’, becoming known in the industry as the bow tie wearing Ad Man.

Gaining sartorial confidence and enjoying the positivity that surrounds a dashing dresser, Robin dropped the bow ties on the advice of his third wife and moved on to wearing Versace’s exciting designs. Then, for a while the flamboyant colours of Ozwald Boateng’s collections took his fancy. Around this time Robin found himself gravitating towards the colour purple, not due to regal aspirations or knowledge of the historical expense of the colour but just because he liked it, and it suited him.

Purple soon became Robin’s thing and friends would question “Where’s your purple Robin?” feeling miffed if he turned up in anything else. Always on the look out for beautiful cloth Robin found his way to Dashing Tweeds. His eyes lit up upon entering our shop and such was his enthusiasm that we offered to weave special purple fabrics just for him after he had exhausted our current stock. We recommended the tailors Graham Browne and Chittleborough and Morgan to Robin as ones that would enjoy his company and respond well to his taste and as you can see the result is splendid. When questioned as to his sartorial commitment and joie de vivre it came as no surprise to hear, “I always want to perform and purple is the stage on which I stand”.

Swing by our store on 47 Dorset Street, Marylebone, London, W1U 7ND or if you would like to book a Made to Measure appointment, please drop us an email at: holly@dashingtweeds.co.uk

Dashing Interviews: Daniele Savaré

Raised in a small town 25km from Milan, Daniele Savaré is the 53 year old creative mind behind the label, Connection Knitwear and Clothing which is handcrafted by skilled artisans in Italy. Immersed in the Mod scooter scene and a lover of vintage cars, Daniele graduated with an Economics degree in 1989 post military service, later working for over 20 years in the Assets Management and Investment Funds Industry as a Portfolio Manager.

We talked to Daniele about fashion, style and the birth of his brand with his partner Camila, which began with knits and later extended into outerwear and tailor-made clothing, combining heritage allure with modern durability, and his love of Dashing Tweeds.

The mod subculture plays a huge impact on your life, what first attracted you to the scooter scene?

I have always had an instinctive attraction for 60’s and early 70’s sporty cars, since a child. Many of the cars I liked weren’t ‘vintage’ yet, of course. Scooters came a bit later, as a natural consequence. Being involved in the Mod scene in my teens and after some visits to the UK, where the scooter culture was much more developed than in Italy, enhanced this passion. I bought my first scooter, which I still own, as soon as I found a job in 1990.

What scooters and cars do you own?

At the moment I have five Lambrettas, of which one is a sidecar outfit, and a classic car. All of the Lambrettas (a 1957 TV1, a 1960 TV2, a 1963 LI, a 1965 TV200 and a 1966 SX225 with Watsonian Bambini sidecar) are customised. My car is a 1970 Lancia Flavia Coupè 2000, I don’t own modern cars. Before this I owned a 1971 Lancia Fulvia Coupe 1.3S and an Innocenti Mini 1001, which was a bit tuned up.

What events have you taken part in?

We tend to take part in local rallies for both classic cars and scooters and every now and then there are some track days. Under the mod/ scooter point of view, the event we prefer is the Brighton Mod weekend during the August Bank Holiday. We’d like to attend an event in Japan or the Far East sooner or later such as Singapore, Malaysia or Indonesia. We have some friends there who are very dedicated to the scooter scene, making it vibrant and full of life. Who knows, maybe one day.

Is there a particular type of music you listen to?

Mainly jazz, from Bebop to Free.

How would you describe your style and do you have any style icons?

My style during the years (we can say ‘decades’ by now) moved from a ‘purist’, or at least that’ss how I liked to define it, to being more open to other influencers like the 1910s and 1920s dandies or the vintage military and sportswear. I think that the new inputs didn’t water down the mod ‘core’ but on the contrary, it added more of an individual touch.

My first style icons were the jazz musicians portrayed in their dark suits, button down shirts and thin silk or knitted ties on the Blue Note covers. Many Italian and French actors of the 1950s/ 60s cinema were a big influence. It was a period in which good taste was so widespread that you almost couldn’t go wrong, picking this or that.

How do you achieve your style? Which tailors do you work with and do you also buy vintage?

I like to buy vintage, especially accessories and military pieces, which are also an interesting source of inspiration. As for my own more ‘formal’ attire, I have used a few different tailors along the years. Now I especially like the Neapolitan tailoring style which is based on natural shoulders, soft-structured jackets, lean silhouettes and many small details that, in my opinion, can make the difference. The ‘Sartoria’ we work with for our tailoring collection is based in Naples, and we’re very happy with their job with all of the hand cutting and stitching.

What is it you like about Dashing Tweeds?

I like the idea behind Dashing Tweeds, the concept of taking traditional British sportswear and fabric from the countryside to a more urban scenario, adding new life and opportunities to one of my favourite materials ever. I like the way Dashing have implemented it, in terms of quality, texture, vibrant colours. It’s the perfect cloth for a modern urban gentleman who is forward minded but with solid roots in tradition.

To find out more about Connection Knitwear, do check out their website and if you have any questions about our collections that Daniele has used, please visit our shop at 47 Dorset Street, Marylebone, London, W1U 7ND or check out our website DashingTweeds.co.uk.

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Dashing around this Spring

As a way of showing you how Dashing can be worn around town we teamed up with three other brands to shoot our Spring/Summer collection. We shot our collection alongside London-based artisanal leather and luxury goods brand Pickett, bespoke shoe brand Gaziano & Girling, and British born eyewear brand Finlay & Co.

Dashing’s ethos is to create tailored menswear that sidesteps you to a world of original British heritage. The use of our unique cloth designs in an English cut imparts an insouciant modern look that others struggle to match.

Our spring collection uses lightweight Merino wool in cool open weave hopsack structures, tailored using our made to measure service. We styled a two button double breasted with informal patch pockets giving an easy to wear suit for meetings and travel. Our Seti cloth in a navy pinstripes with ombré cotton is suitable as both day and evening wear, and has proved very popular for weddings.

Wearing a suit in a dressed down way with trainers is perhaps the easiest and most flexible style, looking a cut above anyone else in separates trousers or jeans. Just throw it on with a t-shirt and attitude. Our Cromarty striped fabric fits the bill and wears well without creasing.

For the more outwardly going and fashionable individuals, our special collaboration with Royal College of Art final graduate Joe Whitbread is definitely a romantic style that is completely original and desirable.

As a way of showing you how Dashing can be worn around town we teamed up with three other brands for this shoot. Finlay and Co is a eyewear brand that shares the same ethos as Dashing in terms of hand making the sunglasses, which are infused with a rebellious spirit, celebrating the individuality of the wearer.

The only way to describe shoes from Gaziano and Girling is exquisite. Hand made in Kettering within the famous Northamptonshire area of English shoe making, they fuse traditional techniques with a style best described by the Italian term sprezzatura.

Trevour Pickett’s Mayfair store selling fine crafted leather goods and accessories is a Mayfair institution. For nearly 30 years Pickett has been selling a fabulous range of artisanal luxury products that are so useful they are probably best described as gentleman’s necessities.

If you’ve liked this post, do keep updated with the brands below, and to see more of our shoot follow us on Instagram!

Finlay & Co
Gaziano & Girling
Pickett

All the best,

The Dashing Team

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The History of Colour

For men, wearing colour is much more than just a mood thing. You may be feeling blue or having the luck of a purple patch but the colour of your attire is much more important than mere whim.

We have lost the subtle associations of the value of colours over the years, the fact that to obtain enough purple dye for Marcus Aurelius’ toga, over 100,000 Murex snails had to be ‘milked’ of their prized mucous secretions puts this into perspective. Equally, cochineal red dye used for the red coats of British soldiers up until the mid 19th century relied on a small army of Mexican farmers. Eighty thousand insects, each about a half a centimetre long had to be prized off spiky cactus plants and ground up just for a kilo of dye. A worthwhile investment for army generals who choose red uniforms primarily to disguise blood stains of the wounded. The shocking sight of a bleeding friend could dampen the fervour of your assault.

Colours, now without monetary associations are still charged with social implications. I find it hard to look at bright orange with out thinking of Guantanamo Bay prisoners and softer shades of saffron cause an inverse Pavlovian response as my ears prick up for the passing bells of Hare Krishna’s. Yes, colour is fraught with so much social coding that it is understandable why many benighted folk retreat under the cover of black. To wear colour well you need a greater deal of sophistication than our average goth or chromatic objector, but the rewards are manifold and both your own life and those around you will be enriched.

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As with so many art forms learning a few simple rules makes it easier to get started on your polychromic journey. Music provides a good analogy, jumping into dissonant, twelve tone compositions is unlikely to win over your friends, even Boulez and Stockhausen started with simple scales. Leave a clash or even a riot of colour till your have mastered harmony. Start with a simple tone you like, all skins have different hues, it is easier to wear brighter colours if your skin is darker but perhaps start with your eyes and choose a darker shade of blue, green or brown. I have noticed that brighter blues have been becoming more popular over the last few years. The colour I call Pitti blue (after its popularity at the menswear shows in Florence) looks good on most people, it is more vibrant than navy and anything you with wear with it tends to pop out in a pleasing way. Our Seti cloth is slight brighter than navy and the colours of the Japanese yarn stripes are a great start for colour harmonies if you experiment with combinations of shirts, socks and neck wear.

Ties are a traditional way to apply colour as well as providing coded signals of your interests, clubs and education to the informed. Whilst I’m not advocating a change to traditional formality in the workplace, quite the opposite, I wish I saw more classic gents wearing three piece pinstripes, bowlers and red carnations when I visit the square mile, I do think that your off duty attire should become a time for you to enjoy playing with tonal compositions.

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The trend for brighter menswear is a last gathering pace again, not some much as in the love children of hippies but in the more sophisticated intercourse of tech sports wear and tailoring. Some have named this trend ‘Athleisure’ a bastardisation whose rightful heir is of course Dashing Tweeds.

If you have any questions or would like to book a Made to Measure appointment, please visit us on 47 Dorset Street, Marylebone, London, W1U 7ND or drop us an email on holly@dashingtweeds.co.uk

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Tie the knot in Dashing

The wedding season is approaching and if you are the groom, best men or just a friend of the bride then now is the time to start thinking about your outfit. I wrote a while ago about the changing trends towards less formal attire, grey morning tails are moving aside as colourful clothes, sometimes with a theme, are becoming increasingly popular for weddings. Luckily however, a tailored look is still the aspiration and as men throughout generations have discovered a well fitting suit makes you more look masculine, more elegant and more desirable should you be intending to hitch with a bridesmaid.

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We have found that country weddings with a tweed take have been popular, but if you are a guest for such an occasion then your old shooting suit simply won’t cut the mustard, even the game old birds will not be impressed. Tweed fulfils many functions from camouflage through to urban cycling but one of the main characteristics of the fabric is a sense of enjoyment. We have some takes on classic Glen Urquhart and Glen Coigach inspired designs such as our Chattanooga and Charleston Checks as well as our Dashing Explorer range that transcend this country wedding brief.

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The other trend we have observed is young grooms coming to us for their first made to measure suit. They are looking for an investment piece that they will enjoy for many of their married years. Tailored garments are often sparse in their wardrobe and so ideally the jacket can be worn after the wedding with other trousers or jeans for a smart dress down look. For this brief we have a whole range of creative yet subtle fabrics mainly in our fine Merino worsted quality. Our navy Seti design has proved very popular so we have rewoven this. The subtle hints of colour in the dip dyed Japanese cotton stripe provide both the sophisticated originality required for a wedding as well as the freshness for a night out in town. We also have a whole range of lighter weight Merinos in stripes and checks that when tailored well will elevate you from possibly dreary to dashingly dreamy.

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You may well be reading this with the anticipation of welcoming a new son or daughter in law to the family, the father of the bride or groom plays a pivotal role and whilst you do not wish to steal lime light from the central players, it is desirable to show the youth how to dress with a nonchalant aplomb that befits a man of wisdom.

We have a new cloth in a navy and black peak design which looks artfully interesting without seeking attention and fits the brief well. Of course, if you are renowned as a colourful bon viveur, and your audience would feel cheated if you did not excel yourself with a creation so joyous and exuberant that earth worms sing open harmonies at your arrival we would also be delighted to help make the special day superlative.

If you have any questions regarding cloth for your wedding or would like to book a Made to Measure appointment, please drop us an email on holly@dashingtweeds.co.uk