Alexander S. Kabbaz - Joelle M. Kelly ... & Sons Fine Custom Clothiers
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Press Reviews

What do THEY

say about US?

  • Forbes Magazine
  • Esquire
  • The New York Times
  • Cigar Afficionado
  • Playboy
  • Town & Country
  • New York Magazine
  • Kabbaz Reviews ...
           The Reviewers!

INTRODUCTION

Widely regarded as the world's foremost authority on quality shirts, Alexander S. Kabbaz is a frequent technical and styling resource for the working press. The 'What are the Collar Rules?' myth is one of his favorites:
"There is only one rule", Kabbaz says with the faint smile of one who has answered the same question many times, "You don't put a fat, round face with a double chin and short neck on top of a wide spread collar. It's sort-of similar to balancing a vertical egg on top of a horizontal football. The like fat sitting atop fatter held on by fat. Squat ... and ugly.
"I'm sorry ... was that not quite politically correct? Let's try again:
A corpulent individual with a vertically challenged shoulder support should endeavor to avoid wide spread collars as the combined appearance is one of extreme rotundity. There, now. Better verbiage? Still squat and ugly.
"Aside from that simple physics lesson, there aren't any hard and fast rules. A tall, slim woman will appear taller and slimmer with a close, pointed collar style. But she may desire to appear taller and slimmer.

"Then again, I may be all wrong. Perhaps there is a fat person out there who wants to appear fatter. But in some 30 years of advising people on their dress, I haven't yet met that particular individual!" 'Nuf of that ... this is supposed to be Press Reviews, not reviews of the press' most frequently asked questions!
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Shuttle Sheet Front Cover SHUTTLE SHEET
- The Magazine of the Delta Shuttle

Delta Airlines new shuttle magazine, "The Shuttle Sheet" caught up with Kabbaz & Kelly for it's second issue. Editorial Director Duncan Christy, penning the monthly
    'SYBARITE-New York'
column, writes:
"If you want a shirt that fits perfectly - that doesn't tuck or pucker, doesn't blouse or billow, and looks brilliant in the bargain - then the man you wish to see is ALEXANDER KABBAZ. That shirt is going to cost you $325 (and up), but when you want perfection, you must expect to pay for it.
"From his handsome atelier, Kabbaz has been crafting custom-made shirts for a global clientele for the past 20 years. They are truly custom-made - prepared from your own paper pattern - not made-to-measure as so many so-called 'custom' shirts are, where personal measurements are added to a pre-existing model.

THE

LAND

OF

COTTON
"Kabbaz's shop, shared with wife and partner Joelle Kelly, is a well-appointed shrine to the glories of cotton. With more than 3,000 shirtings to choose from - milled to demanding standards in Switzerland, Italy and England - almost any whim can be gratified, from the most sober white to the most insouciant polychrome, from the conventionally cuffed and collared to the flamboyantly foppish.
Shuttle Sheet Fabric Pix(Why else would Tom Wolfe be a client and a friend?) The first shirt will require several fittings to perfect, from refinements of pattern to adjustments of the shirt as worn. But, Kabbaz says, 'Once the pattern is developed, I never have to see you again. Just tell me where to send them.'
"Kabbaz is the best and he knows it.
... How far do Kabbaz's services go? He'll even launder your shirts afterward to insure a long and well-pressed life."


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Playboy Front Cover PLAYBOY MAGAZINE
- Entertainment for Men

Playboy did a feature in a recent issue entitled Perfect Fit - Fashion. Writer Hollis Wayne 'chose the expensive guys'. Giving 'the full press to shirtmaker Alexander S. Kabbaz for the inside stuff on shirts' Wayne offered this: "Follow their advice and you'll see the difference in the mirror, not your wallet."

THE
MAJOR
FOCUS OF
WAYNE'S
PIECE WAS
THE FINE
PICTURES
"At its most elemental, the allure of custom clothes is all about fit and comfort.
Playboy Shirt PixThere's no excuse for not seeking out a personal tailor.
Speak with the best-dressed man you know and we're sure you'll get worthwhile referrals.
This shirt looks special and feels even better. It's an Egyptian cotton, French cuffed custom job by Alexander S. Kabbaz/Joelle M. Kelly & Sons. It has several distinct advantages over mass-produced garments. Aside from the rare quality of the cotton, the French cuffs can be sewn not to fold to accommodate different cuff links. The placement of the seams can also hide such physical quirks as a dip in one shoulder."


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Cigar Aficionado Front Cover CIGAR AFICIONADO
- DECEMBER 1997

"BUTTON UP"- reads the headline on page 489. Written by mens' wear sage G. Bruce Boyer, the piece offers Bruce's unequalled penchant for the greater veracity of certain precepts over others. Although Bruce and I don't always agree, the past decades have bred a mutual (I hope) respect for the years of research upon which we base our ideas. Naturally, in most areas we agree. Quite simply, a good shirt is a good shirt.

Bruce Boyer,
Former Menswear
Editor for
Town & Country,
Offers a
Compendium of
Sage Advice
and
Expected Features
" Arguing whether to use thick or thin (naturally mother-of-pearl) buttons, Boyer notes that many consider the thicker button harder for laundries to break. "The solution is not to change buttons, but laundries."
We agree!

Cigar Two Shirt Pix
For a wealth of interesting information, read G.Bruce Boyer's historic reference, "Elegance". In it, we are referred to under our label name, Pec & Co.
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New York Times Magazine NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE
Two Articles on Shirt Quality

The Sunday magazine of the nation's paper of record writes occasionally on the subject of men's shirts. In the Spring, 1988 edition of the
    Mens' Fashions of the Times
Lauen R. Rubin penned "Sure Tips on Shirts". Though writing in the main about ready-made offerings, Rubin did a good job of providing insight into certain of the features of better quality shirts.

"Jay Gatsby, Fitz Gerald's's's fictional dandy, was the ultimate shirt connoisseur. He had only to ring up his personal buyer, and a cornucopia of elegant linens, silks and flannels would arrive.

"Most American men, however, buy their dress shirts the way they buy supermarket chicken - with a hasty examination of the parts visible through the plastic wrap and an assumption that what's hidden will be fine. As for quality features, they wouldn't know a gauntlet from a gusset, much less a well-constructed example of each.
"Fortunately, even the sartorially unsophisticated can buy quality, and even a touch of luxury, off the rack. A first-class manufactured shirt, explains Alex Kabbaz, obviously won't sport such custom features as "genuine Australian mother-of-pearl buttons. "But if ought to have high- quality fabric, cross-stitches, no fewer than 14 to the inch.
"But just what to do these terms mean? Singles, as the name suggests, denotes cloth woven from single yarns, while two-ply means those yarns have been twisted together, a process that strengthens the fabric and ultimately reduces pilling. Technically, Kabbaz explains, the numbers refer to the dernier, or fineness, of the yarn, and the higher the numbers are, the longer the cotton fiber, the finer the yarn and the tighter the fabric construction.
"The other critical "raw material" in a topnotch dress shirt is buttons. The best, which are made of mother-of-pearl, are thick, white and luminescent, notes Kabbaz, but their hefty retail cost - about 70 cents apiece - confines them largely to the custom market and the most expensive mass- manufactured shirts. High-quality off-the-rack shirts are more likely to sport troca pearl buttons. They're ivory in hue, thinner and more fragile than oyster-derived mother-of-pearl, and cost only about 20 cents apiece.
"A small storm of controversy, however, swirls around gussets, those fabric inserts some-times sewn where side seams hit the hem. Proponents of these expensive features contend that they reinforce the seams and provide an extra measure of roominess. Alex Kabbaz, on the other hand, thinks they're "ludicrous," and asserts that "if you cut a shirt correctly in the first place, you won't need any gussets."
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"The Formalities" which appeared the previous autumn, provided a few of the basics regarding Tuxedo dressing. "Choosing a proper evening shirt is a straightforward affair. Or so says Alex Kabbaz, the Manhattan custom shirtmaker. According to Mr. Kabbaz, the wing-collared shirt, with its aura of hauteur, is unequivocally "preferred."
"Kabbaz's clients, a wordly lot with an average age of 55, veer toward the discreetly modish, high-necked look. The matter doesn't end with shirt collars. Fronts, too, present some tricky options, not least of which is deciding whether to go with pleats or a bib. The number of pleats alone gives rise to controversy. Some argue that four one-inch folds on each side of the center shirt front are optimal, but pleats at quarter-inch intervals are also acceptable. "The relatively starchy bib front, usually of cotton pique, may be chosen on practical as well as esthetic grounds, because it is easier to maintain. Unlike the flat bosom, pleats require meticulous pressing. A further guideline: the rule these days is that one's bib should be long enough to vanish inside one's trouser waist. This obviates the need for a cummerbund, which some people feel is superfluous.
"All told, the proper evening shirt is the sum of such quiet details. Accordingly, circumspect dressers interpret "black tie" literally, forgoing flamboyant accessories in favor of a bow tie and, when circumstances demand, a cummerbund, both of black satin or faille. Fastenings are low- key, too. Studs, generally of gold or onyx, run three to an average shirt, although tall men may require four. And cuff links are de rigueur." 		New York Times Magazine
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Copyright © 1997-2001 A. Kabbaz/J. Kelly.
Last modified: January 28, 2001