I met master tailor Dalcuore in Naples a year and a half ago, in his atelier in Riviera di Chiaia. Before the summer exodus this year, I managed to pop in on him again in his new space in Via F. Caracciolo 17. Considering that only 18 months had passed since my last visit, it would be an understatement to say that the atelier has mushroomed. Contacts in the Asian market were made in the last decade, but have come on in leaps and bounds in the past few months, as witnessed by the various trunk shows which have led the 71 year-old tailor to make whistle-stops in Tokyo and Hong Kong, Manila and Shanghai, in the best men’s tailoring boutiques in the Far East.
Last month – July – I commissioned the Dalcuore sartoria to make me a Will Bill tobacco coloured three-piece Irish linen suit. When unbuttoned, the jacket has traits that I rarely have the pleasure of encountering: the front quarters remain close together, without sliding backwards (in which case Neapolitan tailors would say that the jacket “sta ittat e quart”, which literally means “its front quarters throw themselves back”). The armhole is open, a natural shoulder, two appliqué pockets, a barchetta breast pocket and frontal dart right to the bottom. The neckline is sheer perfection, the collar veils the chest without crinkling up. The shoulder is deliberately more “generous” in comparison to the “ideal” measurements, while the stiffness of the fabric (let us not forget that it is Irish linen, stiffer than its Italian cousin) creates a slight “step” when the arms are raised. Last but not least, the waistcoat is as flawless as the trousers, the lines of which I found truly astounding: I have seldom come across a central pleat which does not “break” at knee height. Lest we forget, bespoke does mean the cut, fit and wearability of the garment; without these vital ingredients, masterful manual craftsmanship is merely an accompaniment.
Bespoke hugs,
Fabio
