Tweed Pig Pin-Up - Bernhard Roetzel

Forget those po-faced bloggers with their clipped beards and their pseudy self-regarding declarations, the German style writer Bernhard Roetzel is the real deal.

World of the well-dressed male

With wit and intelligence, Bernhard was documenting the understated dressing habits of the true gentleman before the internet made us all so-called experts. If you don't yet own a copy of Bernhard's GENTLEMAN A Timeless Guide to Fashion, then buy one today. The book tells you pretty much all you need to know about the world of the well-dressed male. It's an excellent reference, and would make a great gift for a wayward offspring looking at self-improvement and shedding his high-tops.

I think the red first edition came out in 1999.

Coupled with the excellent news coverage provided by The Tweed Pig, you'll have everything you will ever need to steer an elegant course through life's pigsty. Hotels around Jermyn Street and St James's should have a copy of the latest edition of Bernhard's GENTLEMAN in the desk drawers of their hotel rooms. A definitive guide.

Double feature

In the Pin-ups series, a guest describes what they are wearing in a supplied photograph. We're honoured that Bernhard has provided this contribution to our Pin-ups series from his base in Berlin. We are so honoured in fact, that Bernhard also becomes our latest Elegant Male. This is a first: a chap who becomes a Pin-up and Elegant Male in one pop.

Hearty congratulations Bernhard and much deserved.

About the Photo

In describing the suit he wears in the photo, one might be surprised by Bernhard's generous attitude to the ravages of clothes moths. Perhaps we should all adopt his philosophy? Read on...

Thornproof tweed

'I am wearing a three piece suit made in 1998 of a thornproof tweed from Lear Browne Dunsford by Tobias Tailors of Savile Row. The company was run by John Coggin and John Davis. Unfortunately they went out of business due to excessive rent in the early 2000s. Tobias Tailors was located between the old premises of Anderson & Sheppard and Chester Barrie and thus in a very attractive position. I ordered about a dozen outfits including a covert coat from Tobias between 1998 and 2003, later John Coggin made for me privately. 

Clothes moth scars

'People who were turned off by Anderson’s prices sometimes walked into Tobias Tailors and met John Coggin who was in fact a Anderson trained coatmaker. He later learned cutting in addition at Strickland Bros. I have worn the suit frequently since 1998, but it is only just worn in. It suffered an attack of moths last summer, but I  hope to have these holes invisibly mended soon. Until then I consider them as scars that the suit has earned. The pants are made with forward pleats and side adjusters, later brace buttons were added because the heavy cloth didn’t stay in position without braces.

Oldest shoe shop in the world

'I wear heavy woollen socks from Eduard Meier in Munich and fairly new Scotchgrain Derby shoes with a Ridgeway sole from the same company. Eduard Meier was founded in 1596, it is probably the oldest shoe shop in the world and definitely the oldest one still owned by the same family (13th generation). The hat is a soft travelling Trilby from Herbert Johnson, the shirt is made of a very heavy Oxford cloth woven in Switzerland by Alumo in Appenzell. The tie is made of wool and it used to bear the label of John Kent, the tailor who made for The Duke Of Edinburgh. I saw the tie in John Kent’s tiny shop window just off Savile Row in 1998 after I had collected the suit. The silk pocket square is from an unknown brand, I found it in an Oxfam store somewhere in London in 1989.'

The photo was taken for Bernhard's latest book A Gentleman’s Look Book (h.f. ullmann), released in May 2017.

Photograpy by Erill Fritz