Brooks Brothers Madras 2019

This is an unsolicited, very short review of this (late) season's madras short sleeve sport shirts from Brooks Brothers.

They're great. The fabric is real Indian madras, a looser, airy, less uniform cotton weave than the Brooks Brothers madras of the past few years which was closer to a pinpoint oxford than Indian madras. The collar is lined, but not as heavily as their dress shirts. And they are all on sale right now at 50% off. Note: the tail of the shirt is not squared as shown in the photos on the website.

I'm begging them to offer a popover or two next year.

White and Dirty Bucks, 1939

Source:

The New Yorker - 6/3/39

Navy Grey, 1944

(click to enlarge)

Source:

The New Yorker - 3/11/44

Brooksweave, 1953

(click to enlarge)

Source:

The New Yorker - 3/7/53

Shop Talk, 1975

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

Shop Talk

At the Brooks Brothers' Madison Avenue address we found no garish signs in the window, only the familiar husky and headless tweed torsos which, legend has it, come to life each All Hallow's Eve at the stroke of twelve, and throw one heckuva board meeting. Inside, we were greeted by a graying Warner Oland look-alike who proved to be a perfectly nice man named Mr. Campbell. He showed us his selection of English striped silk and polyester rep neckties, now $6.95 to $7.50. A fine selection they were indeed, our eye particularly held by his array of solid-color foulards-with-the-little-thing's-embroidered-on-them. Sporting motifs mostly, plus little bulls and bears and crossed automatic pencils. Mr. Campbell was especially enthusiastic about a tie with little neckties on it, which, frankly, gave us the willies.

Our salesman excused himself to get more patterns; more seductive, however, were the solid colors, and we selected a brace of them, one off-burgundy and the other a deep maize, and not wishing to trouble Mr. Campbell further with wrapping and sales slips, briskly pocketed them and headed for
the shoe department. Here we would find a wide assortment of those shoes-with-the-little-holes-all-over-the-toes at, if not next to cost, certainly something closer to our Fayva budgets than normal.

The shoe department proved disappointing; someone had already cleaned out the shoes-with-lhe-little-holes, leaving only odd sizes behind, and we had to content ourselves with replacements for our worn, adhesive-mended Weejuns (which we left in a drastically reduced Cold Duck cooler/ice bucket).

Better luck on the fourth floor: luggage and ready-to-block hats in seductively vague beiges and pommy grays. We picked up a nice set of matching English leather carry-alls and, deploying ourselves at either aisle end to watch for floorwalkers, stuffed them full of headgear to be blocked at home with the wonderful Abercrombie & Fitch Home Hat blocker received from Aunt Eleanor in lieu of our usual Old Spice gift pack assortment (we still don't know how much she got when Uncle Rudolf's insurance finally came through — and they're still pretty suspicious about that second set of tire tracks — but mum bets it was a bundle).

Sportswear proved equally fruitful. Wool tweed sports jackets normally $115 to $235 were now a low-low $92 and $188, and considering what the same money buys some poor yid up the Avenue at Paul Stuart, these fine Shetlands and lambswools would have been a steal at twice the price.

After selecting a rich rust number from the rack, we picked up a super double-breasted camel's hair overcoat reduced to $299 and headed for the third floor dressing rooms to try them on, along with some nifty blue oxford Brooksflannel pajamas and a dozen pairs of Brooksknit undershorts which fit neatly, if a bit snugly, under the tan whipcord cavalry-twill trousers which we temporarily cuffed with straight pins from those terrific Brooks button-downs.

Suddenly feeling a bit warm, we decided to skip Sportshirts and Knits and proceed to the last stop of the day: those white Irish linen handkerchiefs whose hand rolled softness so reassuringly bulks out a new camel hair's ample pockets.

On our way out, we encountered our friend Mr, Campbell again. He seemed disappointed that we had not waited, so we paused a moment to admire a fine silk four-in-hand peppered with little embroidery necktie salesmen. As he turned to answer another shopper's query, we impulsively stuffed it in our jacket and hastily re-buttoned our overcoat.

"You should see the ties we've got coming next month," Mr. Campbell whispered with a conspiratorial wink upon returning, "Women. Nothing indecent or anything like that. Just famous ones like Jacqueline Onassis and Mrs. Angier Biddle Duke. Real doozies."

We thanked Mr. Campbell for the tip and headed casually for the exit. Once outside we found the crisp March air a tonic after the stuffy atmosphere within and, much refreshed, decided to skip lunch and see what looked good at Saks.

Source:

National Lampoon - March 1975

Black Out For Evening, 1939

(click to enlarge)

Source:

The New Yorker - 7/15/39

Brooks Brothers' Distinctive No. 4 Model, 1952

(click to enlarge)

This good-looking two-button suit is a variation of our famous No. 1 model, and is favored by men who like a slightly built-up shoulder, a more tailored appearance in the cut of the jacket, and pleated trousers.

Source:

The New Yorker - 9/27/52

Brooks Brothers' Striped Silk Neckties, 1947

(click to enlarge)

Source:

The New Yorker - 3/29/47

Hats and Shoes for the Duration, 1943

(click to enlarge)

Source:

The New Yorker - 3/6/43

Highlights, 1967

(click to enlarge)

Source:

The New Yorker - 2/11/67

Really memorable gifts, 1932

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

Source:

The New Yorker - 12/10/32

Here is Brookscloth, 1954

(click to enlarge)

Source:

The New Yorker - 9/25/54

Brooks Brothers Clothing For Autumn, 1931

(click to enlarge)

Source:

The New Yorker - 9/12/31

Brooks beachwear, 1942

(click to enlarge)

Source:

The New Yorker - 7/4/42

Surf-quality Brooks, 1945

(click to enlarge)

Source:

The New Yorker - 6/30/45

Definitely air-minded, 1939

(click to enlarge)

Source:

The New Yorker - 6/17/39

Seersuckers and Cords, 1949

(click to enlarge)

Source:

The New Yorker - 6/4/49

Long-sleeved country shirts, 1946

(click to enlarge)

Source:

The New Yorker - 3/23/46

Our Lightweight Cotton Sweater, 1979

(click to enlarge)

Source:

The New Yorker - 9/10/79

COTTON SWEATERS are now basics in many warm-weather wardrobes. But such was not always the case, since traditions, even woolen ones, die hard in men's dressing. Perhaps the turning point came eight years ago, when Brooks Brothers, that bulwark of sartorial propriety, introduced a cotton, cable-stitched, V-neck sweater. It was an instant success and ''is now the bulk of our sweater business for the spring and summer,'' says Peter G. Newman, vice president and merchandise manager for furnishings.

Success was slower in coming for Ron Chereskin, the award-winning men's-wear designer. ''In 1977, I was told that men would not understand cotton sweaters,'' he says. ''Today, my cotton-sweater business does about $10 million at wholesale annually.''

Source:

New York Times Magazine - 5/12/85

Brooks Brothers - Our Own Make Neckwear, 1969