By G. BRUCE BOYER
The designer world seems to have taken classic kit
to its heart this season. American preppie is back with a vengeance of
bright pastel colours and a brash new attitude. Well, give credit where
credit is due. Not everyone in the fashion world has rediscovered the
classic heritage. For some it has always been there. Ralph Lauren really
never left the fold, nor Paul Stuart. And then, of course, there is Ben
Silver.
Not exactly a high-wattage design name perhaps, but Ben Silver is a treasure
of a clothing store on historic King Street in Charleston, South Carolina
(800-221-4671; bensilver.com). Persian rugs cover glistening pine floors;
hunter-green walls are decorated with photos of celebrities and sports stars;
vintage cabinetry holds stacks of sweaters, pajamas, as well as displays
of blazer buttons and badges. Then there are the ties: Hundreds of British
regimental stripes fan a round oak table near the entrance, while hanging
racks of foulards, English woven silks, printed twill polka dots, and authentic
wool tartan are displayed everywhere.
The décor, ambience, and clothes recall the style of the Campus Shop,
traditional haberdasheries once found near every U.S. college and university.
Except more sophisticated and international in flavour, of course.
But lest you think this is merely quaintness incarnate, it should be pointed
out that the firm also has a thriving 4,000,000-copy catalogue business
world-wide each year. Not to mention catering to the sartorial requests
of such customers as American political commentators George Will and Tucker
Carlson, comedian David Letterman, and publisher Steve Forbes. Nixon, Reagan,
Carter, George Bush— pere et fils—and even Martin Sheen from American
television’s The West Wing have all been customers. Gregory Peck picked
out the same ties that Cary Grant wore, and Nancy Sinatra bought ties for
her father. Recently, the store was asked to provide clothes for the new
Russell Crowe film, A Beautiful Mind.
Ben Silver was an overcoat manufacturer
in New York City, and when men stopped wearing overcoats in the ‘60s,
he turned to producing traditional blazers. As an afterthought, he decided
to sell enameled insignia buttons to go with them. His idea became a textbook
case of the tail wagging the dog: The buttons began to outsell the blazers,
as nearly every university wanted to stock them in their bookstores.
When Silver died in 1978, his daughter and son-in-law, Sue and Bob Prenner
took over the operation of the business. Two years later the couple got
a huge boost when they were awarded the contract to produce 50,000 sets
of Inaugural Seal blazer buttons for Ronald Reagan’s inauguration.
The next year they started to carry blazer-type striped ties. In 1983 they
opened a shop in Charleston. “We went there on vacation,” Bob
Prenner remembers, “ and I saw all the guys wearing seersucker suits
and button-downs and striped ties, and I said, ‘This is the place for
me.’”
While they are the legitimate standard bearers for updated traditional style
and quality, Ben Silver customers are not just fussy prep-school alumni;
rather sophisticated dressers: men who will wear a muted checked sports
jacket of Loro Piana cashmere with a pair of Nick Hilton worsted flannel
trousers and an elegant spread-collared Italian-made Venanzi dress shirt.
Ben Silver also carries fine robes and sleepwear from England’s Derek
Rose, Geo F. Trumper toiletries, and Crockett & Jones benchmade English
shoes.
To maintain their hold on quality and accommodation, the firm offers a rare
customizing service: Hosiery is sized to the foot; shirts have sleeve lengths
as well as neck sizes (even a 15 3/4-inch); and trouser waists are tailored
to the individual client.
If we can believe all the cutting-edge designers who have taken up the cause
of schoolboy chic, Ben Silver may be the coolest thing around.
G. Bruce Boyer has contributed to Esquire and the New York Times.
Four Season Hotels and Resorts Magazine