We guarantee our frames for one full year of normal use, if you are within the warranty period we can replace your glasses. However, we also offer replacement parts for many of our most popular styles. They can be purchased by calling customer service (1-800-221-4671).

While all our glasses are prescription ready, we are unable to fill prescriptions ourselves. Please take them to your local optometrist to be filled.

We can arrange to have any shoe you have purchased from us repaired by either Crockett & Jones or Alden, as appropriate to the make, if you send the shoes to us at our distribution center, along with your customer information. When you have a hole in the sole of a shoe or you just need to have it reconditioned, we will send it to the factory in either England or Massachusetts for expert attention. We pass along the charges ($245 for refurbishment and shipping and handling.) Allow at least 8 weeks for repair, but it is well worth the wait, as you will, in effect have a new pair of shoes!

Cordovan leather is famous for its soft and supple feel, nearly indestructible nature and an always polished look. What many people don't realize is that cordovan is not a calf skin but rather horsehide taken from the horse's hindquarters. Cordovan leather was made popular in shoes by the American shoemaker Alden, and to this day the production of cordovan leather remains a specialty of the Americans. Finding men's clothing items made of cordovan leather is a rarity today.The hide from the hindquarters of a horse is only sufficient enough to produce two or three pairs of shoes, and the tanning process for the hide is expensive and very time consuming. It can take up to six months to produce a piece of leather. Generally, cordovan has a reddish brown color but it can be dyed black, tan, or even left natural.

The beauty of cordovan comes from its distinctive look and the minimum requirements in care. Cordovan leather simply needs to be wiped to return it to a fresh state. If polish is desired, a special fine paste wax from Alden, made especially for cordovan leather, is available. Shoes and belts made from cordovan should last an extremely long time and keep a unique look after many years of use.

Carefully untie your tie when you remove it. It should come off the same way it went on, in reverse. Pulling the knot loose will tear the neckpiece, the third part of the tie construction. Hang it in your closet, unless it is a knit, which you should roll. A silk tie will lose its wrinkles if it is given rest in your closet and the help of gravity. Ties cannot be dry-cleaned, cannot be washed, and cannot be pressed. Either cover your tie when you eat, or prepare to replace it when it is soiled.

Treat your cashmere like your hair. Gently wash it in warm water with a mild soap (shampoo will do). Block it out on a towel to shape and let it dry. Dry cleaning may be the only answer for stubborn stains. Pilling is caused by the abrasion of short fibers into small balls on the surface of the fabric. Some pilling will occur in most new sweaters, especially those worn under other garments. But the problem will not persist in a good garment after the first cleaning. Persistent pilling is the result of a high percentage of short fibers combined with a loosely knit fabric. Lower quality manufacturers use shorter fiber because it is cheaper. They also knit loosely to keep the weight of the garment and thus the amount of cashmere used to a minimum. To make these low quality garments feel better, they are produced with a significant amount of surface fiber. This fuzzy surface is initially pleasing to the touch, but signifies long term pilling problems.

How long cashmere will last depends on the quality and how it is worn. Generally speaking more expensive sweaters will last longer than less expensive sweaters. Under normal wear circumstances a well-made cashmere sweater should last many years.

Shirts are best washed and ironed at home or by your laundress to avoid undue shrinkage. Commercial laundries use excessively hot water, and pump some amount of starch into all wash, regardless of your request for "no starch." Such cleaners also use automatic presses for ironing. All these factors contribute to tightening of the fine long staple fibers in a Ben Silver shirt, and give the illusion of shrinkage. In fact, an apparently shrunken shirt can be reclaimed with gentle washing at home, and careful hand ironing of the collar.

We cannot monogram shirts, we suggest you have this done locally.

Jackets, suits, and fine garments in general, are better cared for with a good brushing, a light steaming, and a very rare dry cleaning. The cleaning process is simply not beneficial to the wool or other natural fibers.

Blazer buttons withstand dry cleaning, whether in 24 karat gold plate or in precious metal. However, always tell your dry cleaner to turn the jacket inside out to avoid the buttons being banged against the sides of the cleaning drum. Removing precious metal buttons before cleaning is prudent only to avoid theft.

Each blazer button set come with three larger buttons for the front of the jacket and six smaller buttons for the sleeves. If you need additional buttons they may be purchased individually by calling customer service (1-800-221-4671).

As with all clothing, the quality of a trouser is determined by its construction and its materials, which will contribute to the longevity of the garment as well. All of the construction features of a fine pair of dress pants are designed to allow the pants to fit in a clean and tailored manner. A great many steps go into the production of a finely made pair of pants. For example, a proper waistband has a self-curtain of trouser fabric as well as its lining, and each of these features requires handwork, and a return to the tailoring process for several steps. A lesser quality pants can be made with fewer steps, and much less attention to detail. A quality pair of our dress pants will certainly have:

• a fully constructed waistband, with a non-woven material inside to keep the band from rolling
• a one-piece French fly with a hook and eye closure
• a nylon rather than a metal zipper
• blind stitched, narrower, belt loops
• reinforcement of the crotch area
• pure cotton roomy pockets
• open pressed roomy, taped seams
• taffeta or Bemberg lining to the knee where appropriate to outside fabric
• pressed creases down the center
• pleated or plain front: we forward pleat many of our trousers with no extension tab, as this is the traditional pleated model. However, reverse pleat with extension tab is a contemporary choice for many well dressed men.

Unfortunately, we cannot finish trousers. We suggest you take them to your local tailor for finishing.

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