nmoraitis
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I just wanted to share some thoughts on my recent trip to Naples, Prague and Budapest. Some of my observations will not be clothing related, so just please keep that in mind.
The first stop on my itinerary was Naples and in particular Ambrosi. Both Salvatore and Antoino were extremely friendly and hospitable. It didn’t take long to hash out the details and with in about ten minutes I was fully measured with the promise that the trousers would be ready four days later. I am not sure what else to say regarding the process as Mafoofan has more or less documented this step by step in his blog.
Ironically, I meet with the Ambrosi’s for close to one hour but much our conversation was not about clothing, but about football (soccer). My younger brother (who I travelled with) is a huge footie fan and wanted to go to a S.S.C. Napoli game, which for those that are not familiar with football, are a team in the top football league, Serie A. Needless to say, both Salvatore and Antonio are big Napoli fans, with Antonio excitedly showing us several photos from a recent match that he was at and the large poster of Maradona in the workshop. My brother mentioned how he tried to buy tickets but to no avail and Salvatore offered to try to track down a couple of tickets for us. While he was unsuccessful in getting us tickets, he told us what to look out for and how much to pay when buying off scalpers. By the time my brother and I left the Ambrosi’s, it felt like we were leaving the place of very old friends.
I came back two days later for my fitting and was asked about the length of the trousers and the tightness around the waist. Both Antonio and Salvatore pulled at the trousers in all directions while the other observed. After this fitting, I mentioned that I wanted to visit E & G Cappelli to have some ties made and if they knew where he was located. Antonio mentioned that Patrizio Cappelli was a very good friend of his and that he would personally walk us there. This is just another example of the outstanding service and care the Ambrosi’s take in their clients.
At Cappelli, the first thing Patrizio did was to help me decide on the proper width and length of the tie. He was also extremely helpful in finding the right fabrics and put out close to 50 woven fabrics in blue (I don’t have enough blue ties) on the table for me to chose from. I also went through the cashmeres and printed silks (the classic Neapolitan tie) for future orders. Patrizio mentioned that it would take four days to complete the ties and that he would send them to me. He also mentioned that he had no issues giving the ties to the Ambrosi’s to send along with the trousers so to save on shipping costs. I mentioned that I would keep this in mind. Also, as a gift I received a pocket square from Patrizio. It was an extremely enjoyable visit and like everyone else we meet in Naples, Patrizio was extremely hospitable and kind.
During this time I also visited Rubinacci (for ties not jackets unfortunately) and E. Marinella. I have to be honest, but I found the Rubinacci store very underwhelming. I think I was expecting something along the lines of Charvet (not sure why). I ended up purchasing a seven fold linen tie and a beautiful green shatung silk tie. Same goes for Marinella, where I purchased a tie but was somewhat disappointed with the store.
Another store that I visited was Mario Talarico, but while the umbrellas were of excellent workmanship, I found them to be too thick and inelegant and thus I refrained from buying one. It didn’t help that they didn’t have what I was looking for and that the nephew tried to sell me an umbrella (Congo wood) that I was not to keen on.
On my final day in Naples, I went to the Ambrosi’s to try on my finished trousers and am glad to say that they fit very well.
Overall, I must say that Naples is a beautifully authentic city with lovely architecture and gorgeous women. Some clothing observations that I made while in Naples were that men mostly wore dark coloured suits. Also, for those that wear prescription glasses, eyewear frames in red, blue and green were extremely popular for men. By far the most popular mode of dress in Naples though were jeans and not dark raw denim but the late 80’s early 90’s white wash heavy metal music video denim variety.
We never received snooty service from anyone in any of the stores or restaurants that we visited.
The football match we saw was S.S.C. Napoli vs A.C. Milan. There are literally hundreds of policemen and security guards stationed at the gates, but that didn’t stop the hordes of footie fanatics from trying to climb the fences or kick down the gates. There was none stop yelling and shoving and my brother and I really had no idea what was going on. We were just trying to get in and get out to our seats as soon as possible. After getting through the Alcatraz styled doors we made our way to where our seats were located in curva B. Curva B and A are where all the Ultras sit; Ultras are considered the hardcore fans. Much to our surprise, not only were all the seats filled with people standing on them, all the stairwells and walkways were crammed with bodies too. The chanting was deafening and continued through the entire match with little to no let up. It was unreal and made the chanting and cheering in North American sports seem downright sissy. Even the Boulonge Boys at the PSG match (Ligue 1) I went to in Paris were quit a bit more sedate than the Ultras. Fortunately, Napoli won 3-1 as AC barely put up a fight. I would highly recommend going to a football match in Naples as it is an experience you wouldn’t soon forget.
In Budapest, I visited the Vass store to pick up some shoes and a belt which I had ordered prior to my visit. Not much to say here really other than I never realized how small the store really is, but they cram a huge amount of shoes of all varieties in there.
Well, that’s about it, as I am really to lazy to go into any more detail and hopefully I didn’t bore anyone.
Naples
With the Ambrosi’s
Out Cappelli
Blurry photo of Patrizio and me
Some of the ties that I bought/ordered. The green tie is made of shantung silk and the one to its right is linen
Monetti
Store window with Scafora display
Football!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pompeii
Who said the Romans didn’t have fun?
Temples at Paestum
Palazzo Real
View from Ravello on the Amalfi Coast
Positano
Prague at night
Prague
Astronomical clock
Prague
Budapest
Budapest
Vass
Vass
Vass
The first stop on my itinerary was Naples and in particular Ambrosi. Both Salvatore and Antoino were extremely friendly and hospitable. It didn’t take long to hash out the details and with in about ten minutes I was fully measured with the promise that the trousers would be ready four days later. I am not sure what else to say regarding the process as Mafoofan has more or less documented this step by step in his blog.
Ironically, I meet with the Ambrosi’s for close to one hour but much our conversation was not about clothing, but about football (soccer). My younger brother (who I travelled with) is a huge footie fan and wanted to go to a S.S.C. Napoli game, which for those that are not familiar with football, are a team in the top football league, Serie A. Needless to say, both Salvatore and Antonio are big Napoli fans, with Antonio excitedly showing us several photos from a recent match that he was at and the large poster of Maradona in the workshop. My brother mentioned how he tried to buy tickets but to no avail and Salvatore offered to try to track down a couple of tickets for us. While he was unsuccessful in getting us tickets, he told us what to look out for and how much to pay when buying off scalpers. By the time my brother and I left the Ambrosi’s, it felt like we were leaving the place of very old friends.
I came back two days later for my fitting and was asked about the length of the trousers and the tightness around the waist. Both Antonio and Salvatore pulled at the trousers in all directions while the other observed. After this fitting, I mentioned that I wanted to visit E & G Cappelli to have some ties made and if they knew where he was located. Antonio mentioned that Patrizio Cappelli was a very good friend of his and that he would personally walk us there. This is just another example of the outstanding service and care the Ambrosi’s take in their clients.
At Cappelli, the first thing Patrizio did was to help me decide on the proper width and length of the tie. He was also extremely helpful in finding the right fabrics and put out close to 50 woven fabrics in blue (I don’t have enough blue ties) on the table for me to chose from. I also went through the cashmeres and printed silks (the classic Neapolitan tie) for future orders. Patrizio mentioned that it would take four days to complete the ties and that he would send them to me. He also mentioned that he had no issues giving the ties to the Ambrosi’s to send along with the trousers so to save on shipping costs. I mentioned that I would keep this in mind. Also, as a gift I received a pocket square from Patrizio. It was an extremely enjoyable visit and like everyone else we meet in Naples, Patrizio was extremely hospitable and kind.
During this time I also visited Rubinacci (for ties not jackets unfortunately) and E. Marinella. I have to be honest, but I found the Rubinacci store very underwhelming. I think I was expecting something along the lines of Charvet (not sure why). I ended up purchasing a seven fold linen tie and a beautiful green shatung silk tie. Same goes for Marinella, where I purchased a tie but was somewhat disappointed with the store.
Another store that I visited was Mario Talarico, but while the umbrellas were of excellent workmanship, I found them to be too thick and inelegant and thus I refrained from buying one. It didn’t help that they didn’t have what I was looking for and that the nephew tried to sell me an umbrella (Congo wood) that I was not to keen on.
On my final day in Naples, I went to the Ambrosi’s to try on my finished trousers and am glad to say that they fit very well.
Overall, I must say that Naples is a beautifully authentic city with lovely architecture and gorgeous women. Some clothing observations that I made while in Naples were that men mostly wore dark coloured suits. Also, for those that wear prescription glasses, eyewear frames in red, blue and green were extremely popular for men. By far the most popular mode of dress in Naples though were jeans and not dark raw denim but the late 80’s early 90’s white wash heavy metal music video denim variety.
We never received snooty service from anyone in any of the stores or restaurants that we visited.
The football match we saw was S.S.C. Napoli vs A.C. Milan. There are literally hundreds of policemen and security guards stationed at the gates, but that didn’t stop the hordes of footie fanatics from trying to climb the fences or kick down the gates. There was none stop yelling and shoving and my brother and I really had no idea what was going on. We were just trying to get in and get out to our seats as soon as possible. After getting through the Alcatraz styled doors we made our way to where our seats were located in curva B. Curva B and A are where all the Ultras sit; Ultras are considered the hardcore fans. Much to our surprise, not only were all the seats filled with people standing on them, all the stairwells and walkways were crammed with bodies too. The chanting was deafening and continued through the entire match with little to no let up. It was unreal and made the chanting and cheering in North American sports seem downright sissy. Even the Boulonge Boys at the PSG match (Ligue 1) I went to in Paris were quit a bit more sedate than the Ultras. Fortunately, Napoli won 3-1 as AC barely put up a fight. I would highly recommend going to a football match in Naples as it is an experience you wouldn’t soon forget.
In Budapest, I visited the Vass store to pick up some shoes and a belt which I had ordered prior to my visit. Not much to say here really other than I never realized how small the store really is, but they cram a huge amount of shoes of all varieties in there.
Well, that’s about it, as I am really to lazy to go into any more detail and hopefully I didn’t bore anyone.
Naples
With the Ambrosi’s
Out Cappelli
Blurry photo of Patrizio and me
Some of the ties that I bought/ordered. The green tie is made of shantung silk and the one to its right is linen
Monetti
Store window with Scafora display
Football!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pompeii
Who said the Romans didn’t have fun?
Temples at Paestum
Palazzo Real
View from Ravello on the Amalfi Coast
Positano
Prague at night
Prague
Astronomical clock
Prague
Budapest
Budapest
Vass
Vass
Vass
