Antonio Liverano, Florentine tailor

[EliodA]

[...] I have seen British documentaries on BBC about Savile Row where those tailors referred to Italian tailors as making jackets which were 'bum freezers' (bum = British word for backside, e.g. the jacket was too short in the British tailors' eyes.)

A street scene in Liverano's hometown, 1958. Apparently bums were not supposed to be covered

 

[DonRaphael]

A street scene in Liverano's hometown, 1958. Apparently bums were not supposed to be covered

LOL.

On a completely different matter. What's the pros/cons construction wise of not having a front seam on jackets? L&L constructs jackets without it, and I just noticed that the gentlemen to the left and right in your picture from 1958 doesn't have it either. Is it a "thing" from where Liverano comes from or does it affect construction/fit?

 

[gusvs]



I know, but that suit of yours changed the game.

 

[malabar]

Jeff

What is the cooler detail in the photo of the Liverano jacket that you posted January 26, 2015?

 

[JeffArmoury]

Jeff

What is the cooler detail in the photo of the Liverano jacket that you posted January 26, 2015?

The selvedge edge of the fabric says "Special for Liverano". It's a super dense house hopsack that's made specifically for them.

 

[JeffArmoury]

The selvedge edge of the fabric says "Special for Liverano". It's a super dense house hopsack that's made specifically for them.

BTW, Liverano is back in town this weekend, Thursday - Saturday. That specific jacket is in its second fitting stage and holy crap is the fabric dense. Third from the left on the top row.

 

[malabar]

BTW, Liverano is back in town this weekend, Thursday - Saturday. That specific jacket is in its second fitting stage and holy crap is the fabric dense. Third from the left on the top row.

What do you mean by "dense"? Weight? Tightness of weave? Something else?

 

[JeffArmoury]

What do you mean by "dense"? Weight? Tightness of weave? Something else?

It's a triple ply wool in a plain, tight weave. Maybe rigid is the best word to explain it? Also, it's just flat out heavy - think of the heaviest plain weave mohair you could find and that kinda helps explain the feeling of it. Gives the impression that you could run this stuff over a few times and you wouldn't see a difference. It's interesting stuff.

 

[malabar]

It's a triple ply wool in a plain, tight weave. Maybe rigid is the best word to explain it? Also, it's just flat out heavy - think of the heaviest plain weave mohair you could find and that kinda helps explain the feeling of it. Gives the impression that you could run this stuff over a few times and you wouldn't see a difference. It's interesting stuff.

Thanks Jeff. Seems like a very nice winter fabric. I'm sure with the Liverano cut it would look very stylish.

 

[Journeyman]

On a completely different matter. What's the pros/cons construction wise of not having a front seam on jackets? L&L constructs jackets without it, and I just noticed that the gentlemen to the left and right in your picture from 1958 doesn't have it either. Is it a "thing" from where Liverano comes from or does it affect construction/fit?

It's interesting that you noticed that.

Cutting the front panel without a seam or dart is something that Liverano is known for amongst internet clothing enthusiasts, and it's sometimes mentioned as a selling point for their jackets, as the front panels look very clean as a result.

However, cutting the front panels without a seam or dart used to be common-place - indeed, the norm - for men's tailored jackets.

The style was referred to as a "sack" jacket or suit and it was the way that suit jackets were cut from the mid-1800s until just a couple of decades ago. Brooks Brothers used to make a "No.1 Sack Suit" that was a very popular part of their line-up for decades and J.Press still makes some sack jackets.

Despite the name, a sack suit wasn't baggy - it could be close-cut or cut with more room, depending on the preference of the person wearing the suit - as the name derived from the French term for the way that the back of the suit was cut, not because it fit like a sack.

Former SF member voxsartoria has a good article about the history of sack suits on his Tumblr:

http://www.voxsartoria.com/post/30529685103/my-capsule-history-of-the-american-sack-suit

 

[EliodA]

Liverano doesn't make a sack suit. There may be no front dart, but AFAIK they use an underarm dart to give shape (don't know the technical term). Quite incomparable to the American sack suit anyway.

 

[chogall]



The leg opening of his pants is a little smaller than what might be considered classic for a suit, which is why I assume it's also cut a little shorter as well. The two often go together for practical and stylistic reasons. Otherwise, you'd ruin the clean line of the leg.

Anyway, as I said in my other post -- before I deleted it -- I think dismissing an obviously great fit over of such a minor issue is the kind of idiotic, missing-the-forest-for-the-trees kind of thing that only happens on internet forums. If you want no break on your trousers, they'll often look a little short anyway depending on whether you wear belts or braces, what kind of shoes you have on that day, and how you're positioned. Chogall criticized yfyf's fit for the same thing, which made me wonder if he's ever had experience with pants at all.

Jake looks great in that photo. Considerably better than most people on here, and I would bet much better than archetypical_yuppie.

Oh hai dere. I like them capris.

 

[SeamasterLux]

A couple more:

@gusvs You have phenomenal sport coats and believe me, I don't say that very often.

 

[gusvs]



@gusvs You have phenomenal sport coats and believe me, I don't say that very often.

Thank you very much!

 

[carpu65]

I'm tall.

I think the issue *** can *** be that Italian tailors will often have a preference for ankle-bashers and short jackets - this is not necessarily a new thing either, historically I have seen British documentaries on BBC about Savile Row where those tailors referred to Italian tailors as making jackets which were 'bum freezers' (bum = British word for backside, e.g. the jacket was too short in the British tailors' eyes.)

Well, in 50s the average height of Italian men were not high (around 1,70 cm),so a relatively short rise of the jacket was a trick for seem more high with more long legs (other tricks were a more slean trousers and the abolition of cuffs).
Said this generally a very short jacket with ass exposed were considered "vulgar",for lower class or effeminate peoples.( UK in 50s have know Italian tailoring through lower class immigrants or movies on the peasents as "Pane amore e".."Poveri ma belli",and others).
So the rise of the jackets in Italy depended by tailors's housecut (the more prestigious tailors as Caraceni,Attolini,Maltagliati,ecc would never do very short jackets),social class and age.
Here some Italians 1950s jackets: